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 VOYAGE 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 
 
 TOWARDS THE 
 
 ANTARCTIC POLAR CIRCLE, 
 
 AMD 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD: 
 
 BUT CHIEFLY INTO THE 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE HOTTENTOTS and CAFFRES, 
 
 FROM THE YEAR 1772, TO 1776. 
 BY ANDREW SPARRMAN, M. D. 
 
 raOFESSOR OF PHYSIC AT STOCKHOLM, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
 IN SWEDEN, AND INSPECTOR OF ITS CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH ORIGINAL. 
 W I T H P L A T E S. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 V O L. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR G. G. J. AND J. ROBINSON, PATER-NOSTER-ROW. 
 
 M DCC tXXXV. 
 
 '#' 
 
 ,is-
 
 > 
 
 
 
 I iii ] ^73t-F 
 
 
 V « i " e^- 
 
 R E F A C E. 
 
 RELATIONS of voyages and travels have at all 
 times, and in all ages, fnice the invention of letters, 
 been favourably received by the public : but, perhaps, in 
 no age fo well as in the prefent ; writings of this kind be- 
 ing bought up with avidity and read with eagernefs, more 
 efpecially in this ifland, not only by the learned and po- 
 lite, but alfo by the rude and illiterate. The reafon is 
 evident. The age in which we live, has not unfrequent- 
 ly been accufed of frivolity and indolence. With what 
 juftice, it is not our bufmefs at prefent to determine. Its 
 turn for experiment, however, and difpofition to enquire 
 into fads is univerfally acknowledged : and indeed, may, 
 perhaps, be partly deduced from the principle above- 
 mentioned. Now every authentic and well-written book 
 of voyages and travels is, in fad, a treatife of experimen- 
 
 A 2 tal
 
 IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 tal philofophy. From thefe foiirces natural hiflory derives 
 its moll: copious llreams : and the obfervations which, in 
 compofitions of this kind, every where occur on winds 
 and feafons, foils and climates, in fliort, on the whole of 
 what may be called Jlill nature^ are undoubtedly of the 
 greatell advantage to phyfical fcience. With refpe6l to 
 moral philofophy and metaphylics, it may be fufficient to 
 mention the works of Pauw, Raynal, Kaimes, and Ro- 
 bertson, to evince the utility of journals and defcriptions 
 of voyages in thefe and limilar refearches.. It is alfo 
 worthy of obfervation, that it is the modern philofophers 
 chiefly, and the living inftru6lors of our own times, who 
 have moftly had recourfe to thefe treafures, as containing 
 the beft materials for the purpofe of building their fyftems, 
 or at leaff, as being beft adapted to the fupport and con- 
 firmation of their docftrines. 
 
 Few, indeed, are the travellers, whofe writings may be 
 jelied on as the pure fources of truth, unadulterated with 
 error, or undifguifed by wilful mifreprefentation. But is 
 the number of writers anfwering to this defcription greater 
 among thofe who have collected and reported fa6ts, avow- 
 edly for the purpofe of rendering them fubfervient to phi- 
 lofophy ? Have not, on the contrary, the major part of 
 thefe collc6lors greatly diftorted and mifreprefented the 
 fads they have laid before the public, in confequence of a 
 previous attachment to favourite fyftems ? Doubtlefs they 
 
 have ;
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 have ; and it is therefore in the original writers of itinera- 
 ries and journals, that the philofopher looks for genuine 
 truth and real obfervation ; as the authors of them for the 
 mofl part have had neither philofophical abilities, nor any 
 other motive fufficient to induce them to report thefe facts, 
 otherwife than they have prefented themfelves to their 
 
 notice. 
 
 The author of this journal, though a man of much ;W 
 knowledge and genuine learning, difcovers in every page 
 of his book too httle attachment to fyftem and hypothefis^ 
 to allow us to fuppofe him hkely to be guilty of a fimilar 
 error. Fired with the love of fcience and of truth, he fet 
 out for the defert wilds of i\frica, without money, and with- 
 out friends or fupport of any kind ; and was even obliged 
 to labour for fome time, before he could acquire vvcalth 
 enough to enable him to put his favourite fcheme in exe- 
 cution. In this refpe6l, indeed, he may deferve to be com- 
 pared to our illuftrious countryman, the prefent prelident of 
 the Royal Society, whofe- zeal for the promotion of ufeful 
 knowledge induced him, at nearly the fame age, though 
 at a fomewhat earlier period, to go on a mxich more dan- 
 gerous and extenfive expedition, than that v/hich is the 
 principal fubjedl of the following flieets, and to facrifice 
 fortune, eafe and health, in the caufe of fcience. 
 
 hideed, exclufively of the confiderations above-mention- 
 ed, the work itfelf in every page bears evident marks of 
 
 that
 
 VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 that palTionate regard for truth, which firft infpired the 
 undertaking. In the defcriptions of animals he is accu- 
 rate to a degree ; infomuch that it is to be feared, that 
 feme of his readers, who are not fufficiently apprized of 
 their general utility, may think him tedious : but in de- 
 fcribing fcenes and fituations, whether partaking of the 
 fublime, the beautiful, or the ridiculous, he is no longer 
 an author, he is a painter : and, quitting his pen for the 
 pencil, fets every objecSl before us in colours equally vivid 
 with thofe of nature herfelf. Phyfician, naturalift, and 
 philofopher, neither human manners, nor civil inflitutions, 
 rural oeconomy, nor police, nothing, in fine, efcapes the 
 keennefs of his obfervation. Never relying on the rela- 
 tions of others, except when it is impollible for him to do 
 other wife, he fees every thing with his own eyes, and 
 trufts only to the report of his own fenfes : and at the 
 fame time knows perfedlly well (which is never the cafe 
 with the ignorant traveller) both how to fee and what to 
 look for. Hence we have fo many accurate defcriptions 
 and drawings of animals never before feen, or elfe ftrange- 
 ly mifreprefented by his predecelTors. 
 
 In fadf, the account given by him of the whole face of 
 the country, may be conlidered, in a great meafure, as 
 new : though (befides fuch navigators as have occalionally 
 touched at the Cape, from whom, indeed, much informa- 
 tion could not polfibly be expected) feveral others, the 
 6 chief
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 chief of whom are Kolbe and de la Gaille, have either 
 relided in this part of the world for feveral years, or made 
 expeditions into the country previoufly to our author. It 
 might appear invidious in us to expatiate on their demerits, 
 or to enquire into the caufes of their failure in their re- 
 fpedlive undertakings* We will therefore rather confine 
 ourfelves to that which is the fubjedl of the following 
 iheets. 
 
 Our author, together with a fpirit of obfervation not 
 feen in every traveller, had, as we are informed by his 
 friend Mr. George Forster, admittance into the houfes 
 of the firft families at the Cape, This advantage he feems 
 to have been very folicitous to turn to the beft account ; 
 and to it wt, perhaps, in a great meafure, owe the an- 
 nexed map of the country, which is certainly no fmall ac- 
 quilition to geographical fcience. — Before he had attained 
 the Hate of manhood, he had prepared himfelf for an ex- 
 pedition of this nature, by a voyage which he made un- 
 der his kinfman, the Chevaher Ekeberg '^ and the Jmce- 
 nitates Academic^e^ publifhed under the infpecftion. of the 
 great Linnaeus, exhibited divers proofs that he had not 
 made the voyage in vain. On his return to Upfaly he ap- 
 plied to the ftudy of phyfic ; but his attention was princi- 
 pally engroifed by the fcience of botany, which he purfued 
 with the greatefl ardour under its celebrated reflorer, and be- 
 came one of ^his favourite difciples. With. an. education of this 
 
 kind.
 
 VI 11 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 kind, which, it muft be owned, was the moft favourable 
 that could well have been imagined to fuch a purpofe, he 
 fct out for the Cape, at a time of life the beft adapted to 
 an enterprize of this nature, nominally to inftru6l the chil- 
 dren of M. Kerste, the refident at that place ; but in reality, 
 to fearch for the works of the Creator in a part of the 
 world hitherto hardly known to naturalifts. How he has 
 fucceedcd, the reader mufl judge for himfelf. — But it was 
 not this obfcure corner of the globe only that he was 
 deftined to illuflrate. By the arrival of the Resolution 
 and Adventure at the Cape with Meffrs. Forster, he 
 had an opportunity offered him of extending his refearches 
 to an infinitely greater diftance, and all nature now lay- 
 open to his view. It was, perhaps, not more to the ad- 
 vancement of natural knowledge than to that of thefe gen- 
 tlemen's reputations, that chance threw fo great a zoolo- 
 oiil: as Dr. Sparrman in their way at fo critical a jundture ; 
 an<l it is to be hoped, that we fliall one day be informed 
 of the extent of our obligations to him on this fcore. In 
 the mean while, we mufl content ourfelves with the few 
 fpecimens he has given us in the Swedilli Tranfadions, 
 where he has inferted, and flill continues to infert, the 
 various difcoveries he has made on the continent of 
 Africa. 
 
 Our author having, in December 1775? during his ab- 
 fence from his native country, been promoted to the degree 
 
 of
 
 PREFACE. 
 of doclor of phyfic, was on his return home made a mem- 
 ber of the Royal Academy at Stockholm^ and of feveral other 
 learned focieties. After the death of the great entomologift 
 Baron de GEr:R, who had engaged Dr. Sparrman to live 
 with him at his houfe, the Baron having bequeathed his 
 magnificent colledlion of natural curiofities to the Aca- 
 demy, our author was made infpe6lor of it. He v/as 
 likewife invefled by the Academy with the nominal dig- 
 nity of profeflbr : and, on religning to his fuccelTor the 
 charge of preiident of this fociety, after having held it for 
 the fpace of three months, pronounced an oration " on 
 the augmentation and advantages which fcience in general, 
 and more particularly that of natural hiftory, have ac- 
 quired, and are farther likely to acquire, from exploring 
 the Pacific Ocean." Publiflied at Stockholm in 1778. 
 
 To this fliort account of the author it may be necefTary to 
 add, that we have taken the liberty of reforming the or- 
 thography of mofl of the places mentioned in the courfe 
 of the work, both with refped: to the map and to the 
 work itfelf: the author, whofe purfuit was things and 
 not words, having been carelefs in his language, and 
 more efpecially in his nomenclature^ to a high degree : 
 as likewife that we have adopted the diviiions into chap- 
 ters and fedlions made by the editor of the German tranf- 
 lation, as rendering the following flieets more intelligible, 
 
 Vol. L a and 
 
 rx
 
 K 
 
 PREFACE* 
 
 and n-reatly relieving the attention of the reader. Having 
 mentioned this, we will no longer trefpafs on the rea- 
 der's time and patience, but leave this work, which, to 
 ufe the words of Mr. George Forster, the author's friend 
 and German editor, is adapted to every clafs of readers^, 
 in the hands of its belt judge and prote(^orj the Pubhc, 
 
 INTRO-
 
 [ xi ] 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 IN the month of September I had occafion to think of 
 making a voyage to the fouthernmoft promontory of 
 Africa. What gave rife to this defign, was the following 
 circumflance. 
 
 The ingenious Captain Ekeberg, who never negiedls 
 any opportunity of promoting the interefts of fcience, had, 
 during a fliort vilit he had made to the Cape of Good 
 Hope, made it his bufmefs to obtain permilTion to fend 
 thither a natural hiftorian. 
 
 But in order that this perfon, in the courfe of his re- 
 fearches after plants, infeds, and other objedls of his 
 inquiry, might not run the rifque of being confidered as 
 a fpy on the country and its government, and at the fame 
 time that he might compafs his intentions with as little 
 expence as poflible, it was agi'eed that he Ihould inllru6l 
 
 a 2 - the
 
 xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the refident's children in Falfe-bay in geography, French, 
 and mathematics. 
 
 M. Ekeberg was no flrangcr to the turn I had for na- 
 tural hiilory, having been acquainted with it in the courfe 
 of a voyage to Canton in China, which I had the happi« 
 nefs to make under his command, in the years 1765 and 
 1766. He therefore had me in view when he thought 
 on this voyage to the Cape. 
 
 I accepted his offer with the grcatefl pleafure, as I had 
 long wiflied for an opportunity of feeing diftant parts of 
 the world. Still, however, it depended entirely on the 
 fpecial favour of the dire6tors of the Royal Swediili Eaft- 
 India Company, whether I could be allowed a pafTage in 
 fome veffel bound for the Cape and Canton,. 
 
 M. Ekeberg, therefore, mentioned my intended voyage 
 to the board, as likely to be of fervice to fcience. From 
 the confideration of fo fpecious an objedl, I was flattered 
 by thefe gentlemen with the greatefl hopes of fuccefs in 
 my application, till fuch time as, agreeably to their fta- 
 tutes, a written petition fliould be prefented to them on 
 this fubjedl. 
 
 The late Archiater Linnaeus, as zealous for the ad- 
 vancement of his favourite fcience as he was deeply fkill- 
 ed in it, heard of this with peculiar pleafure ; and, in his 
 own name, drew up a petition for the voyage to be 
 made. 
 
 The
 
 INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 The dire6lors * well knowing, that a well-regulated com- 
 merce as well as navigation in general, has its foundation 
 in fcience, and at the fame time receives light from it,: 
 while this, in return, derives fupport from, and owes its 
 extenfion to the two former, not only confented to w^hat 
 I requefted, but likewife, in their great kindnefs, went 
 beyond my delires. 
 
 Accordingly they ordered, that I fhould have my paf- 
 fage gratis from Gottenburg to the Cape, together with 
 every convenience, in one of their Hiips, called the Cajlle 
 of Stockholm,) which, it was expe6led, would be ready to 
 fail on the Chriftmas following. The laft-mentioned place 
 was pitched upon, for the firft ftation to be reforted to for 
 the purpofe of taking in refrefliments in our way to China. 
 
 Before I begin the journal of my travels, I muft alTure 
 every gentleman of a hearty welcome, who intends doing 
 me the honour to accompany me in them by means of 
 this paper-conveyance, provided he will deign to be pleafed 
 with his entertainment. 
 
 * Baron Fabian Loeven. 
 Meflieurs Peter Theodore Koenic 
 -• — Martin Holterman. 
 
 ■ ■ — David of Sandeberg. 
 
 John Abraham Grill. 
 
 ' — John Malm Ericsson. 
 
 ■ ■ Charles Godfrey Kysel. 
 
 A maa
 
 XIV 
 
 I N T R O D U d T I O N. 
 
 A man who travels to a great diftance from home, can 
 never meet with the objeas of his refearches in the order 
 and arrangement that he himfclf would wifli for : hov/ 
 then fliouid he be able to difpofe and arrange his travels 
 upon paper, agreeably to every one's peculiar tafle and 
 liking? With refpe6l to my ftyle, which, in confe- 
 quence of my being unufed to compofition, is fometimes 
 fo imequal, as well as unhappy in point of expreflion, 
 that 1 have frequently been difpleafed with it myfelf, I 
 have need, more than moft authors, to beg for the readers 
 kind indulgence. In fa6t, all my writing for thefe many 
 years paft, has confifted chiefly in fliort notes and memo- 
 randums, exprefled fometimes in one language and fome- 
 times in another, (juil as my occupations and the part of 
 the world I was in gave occafion to) and fometimes in many 
 languages blended together in one. From this medley I 
 have now tranflated and exprelTed in a more difFufe ftyle, 
 and in my native language, what I had formerly fet down, 
 in the manner above-mentioned, by way of memorandum 
 only. And though I do this with pleafure, conceiving 
 it to be a duty I owe to my curious and inquilitive coun- 
 trymen, yet the performance of this tafk is by no means 
 unattended with anxiety ; inafmuch as on account of the 
 want of pra6tice for many years, proceeding from my at- 
 tention to affairs of greater importance, I do not find my- 
 felf
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fdf able to come up to the reader's wiflies in this par- 
 ticulir. 
 
 Neverthelefs, though I can pledge myfelf for the prin- 
 cipal article requifite in all compolitions of this kind, viz. 
 for the truth of the occurrences here related, it will be of no 
 avail, if at the fame time, I cannot avoid being confidered 
 as being rather unfuccefsful in the choice of my materials, 
 in the variety and uncommonnefs of them, and laitly, in 
 the ityle and manner in which they are prefented to the 
 public, hideed, it has been given me to underftand, that 
 from one, whom a reftlefs inquiiitive difpolition has enticed 
 from his native country, to follow the calls of defliny all 
 round the globe, and more particularly through the land 
 of the Hottentots and the wild and defert regions of Africa, 
 from fuch a man accounts are expelled of a moft en- 
 tertaining and wonderful import. Nor is this expecftation 
 abfolutely ill-founded. Nature has prefented herfelf to 
 me in various fliapes, always worthy of admiration, often 
 enchanting, and fometimes terrible, and clothed with hor- 
 ror. But at the fam.e time I muft apprife the reader, that 
 a great many prodigies and uncommon appearances, about 
 which I have frequently been afked by many, w^ho have 
 been brought to entertain thefe conceits by perufing the 
 defcriptions of others, are not to be found in my journal. 
 Men with one foot, indeed, Cyclops, Syrens, Troglodytes, 
 and fuch like imaginary beings, have almoll entirely difap- 
 
 peared 
 
 XV
 
 xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 peared hi this enlightened age. At the fame time, how- 
 ever, many have been hitherto induced to give credit to 
 tales ahnoft as marvellous, with which authors, who have 
 before me vifited and defcribed the Hottentots, have fea- 
 foned their relations, in order to make them go down the 
 better with the public. So that the reader muft not be 
 furprized to find my accounts frequently differ much from 
 thofe of various of my predecefTors ; and at the fame time, 
 I fliall now and then be obliged to take up my own and 
 his time with fome very narrow limitations of vrhat they 
 have advanced. Otherwife, in fact, the public would have 
 reafon to doubt of my own veracity. 
 
 I muft here likewife previoufly inform the reader, that 
 I do not undertake to give a full and complete hiftory of the 
 Cape of Good Hope, but merely fuch relations concerning 
 every thing remarkable, as I have either been able to colledf, 
 or have myfelf obferved with refpedl to this part of the world. 
 A deficiency of this kind may, perhaps, even in matters 
 of importance, meet with a ready excufe from many of 
 my readers, when it is confidered, that without being ei- 
 ther rich myfelf, or in the leaft fupported by others, I 
 undertook an expedition, which, when confidered with re- 
 fpedl to thefe circumftances, will appear to be of no fmall 
 extent. The whole of the fum that I took out with me 
 to bear my travelling expences was about twenty-five rix- 
 dollars, and what, by dint of oeconomy, I had made my- 
 8 felf
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 felf mafler of by the time I got home, was fomewhat more 
 than double that fum. 
 
 Thus fo far was I from being able to purchafe colle6lions, 
 or to obtain at my eafe, or by dint of money, opportu- 
 nities of enlarging the fphere of my knowledge, that I 
 even could not poflibly arrive at them without great trou- 
 ble and danger. In this cafe, I have been obliged to content 
 myfelf with what fortune has thrown in my way, as I may 
 fay, gratis. 
 
 The arranging by way of journal the occurrences and 
 events which I have defcribed, though in certain refpedls 
 it be not the bed method, is yet in general, the moft na- 
 tural. In order to acquire an adequate idea of a variety 
 of obje6ls out of the great number of thofe that have pre- 
 fented themfelves, it conduces not a little to know on what 
 days they were feen. In fadt, the time, the manner, and 
 the order, in which things occur, are accidental circum- 
 flances from which much light may be derived. But the 
 greatell: advantage accruing from this method is, that hereby 
 it becomes caller both for the writer and reader to diftinguiili, 
 what is the actual refult of the author's own experience, 
 from what he has, in defecSt of this, been obliged to advance 
 on the llrength of the information given him by others. 
 
 At the fame time, in order to come to a more fpeedy 
 and pleafing conclulion of the travels themfelves, certain 
 defcriptions, critical ftriiftures, and refledlions are deferred 
 
 Vol. I. b at
 
 xviu 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 at prefent, which will be inferted at the end of the fecond 
 volume '•-, partly in the form of notes to this, and partly 
 conftituting diflincSt heads by themfelves. Above two 
 thoufand of the produdlions of nature hitherto unknown, 
 which, in confequence of a moderate degree of attention only, 
 I have discovered in Africa, (a country in many refpedls 
 very different from the reft of the globe) but have not been 
 able as yet fully to arrange and put in order, cannot have 
 place here, either defcribed at full length, or in the more 
 comprefTed form of fketches and definitions. 
 
 * This fecond volume, if it (hould ever appear, muft evidently be confidered as a 
 work of a very different nature from the prefent : the tranflator, therefore, did not 
 think hirafelf bound to take any notice of it in the title-page. 
 
 C O N-
 
 [ xix 3 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Occafion and defign of the voyage. Some general refleflions and ftriclures 
 on writers of travels and voyages. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Voyage from Gotenburgh to the Cape. 
 
 Departure from Gottenburgh in Sweden. Defcription of a violent ftorm. 
 D-iilrefied fuuation of a Dutch veflel. Lights in the fea. A diflertation 
 on their nature and their difierent fpecies. Arrival at the Cape, p. 6. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Residexce at the Cape of Good Hope till the Author's Voyage 
 
 TO THE South Sea. 
 
 SECT. 1. 
 
 Reftdence at Cape Town. 
 
 Defcription of the Cape Town and the adjacent country. The author 
 waits on the governor and commandant. Sketch of the charader and 
 hi (lory of Baron Van Prehm, p. ij. 
 
 b 2 SECT.
 
 XX 
 
 CON^TENTS. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Reftdence at Bay Falfo, 
 
 Goes to Bay Falfo to wait on the refident, whofe children he is to educate. 
 Is entertained on the road at night by a rich boor, with gritty bread, and 
 meat preferved with pepper. Peculiar courtefy of the French nation 
 contrafted with the manners of the Dutch at this colony. Meets 
 with his old chum, Dr. Thunberg, at Cape Town. Defcription of 
 Falfe Bay and the adjacent country. Dutch politenefs at table. Story 
 of an Englifh lady going to be married in the Eafl-Indies. Seal- 
 fhooting. The torpedo. Defcription of various filhes, infeds, and 
 plants, p. 29. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Refidence at Alphe?:^ near Conftantia, till the author s trip to PaarL 
 
 Removes to Conftantia with the refident. The plants there. The vine- 
 yard. The filver-trec. Uncommon difpofition of Table-mountain, 
 v/ith refped to rain. Beautiful profpeft from the fouth-fide of it. 
 Adventures in confequence of lofing his way at night. Differtatioa 
 on the Conflantia and Cape wines. Hout-bay defcribed. The palmites 
 plant. Divers kinds of fmall antilopes. Several forts of viverrse, or 
 weafels. The method of catching them, "and their ufes. A young 
 hippopotamus. The efteem in which botany is held at the Cape, ex- 
 emplified in the behaviour of a Cape phyfician, p. 50. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Trip to PaarL 
 
 Letter to a brother failor, defcribing a fix-weeks excurfion made on foot 
 in 06lober. Hires a baftard, a man of family, for his guide. Racks, 
 Vvheels, and gibbets, expofed in the public roads. New fpecies of 
 cicindela. Is taken up by a waggon drawn by twelve oxen, but foon 
 quits it. Concert of jackalls, frogs and owls. Is lodged and enter- 
 tained by a fiave. Battle betv/een the houfe-flave and the cow-herd. 
 The forts oi feed fown in this colony. Curious method of ferving at 
 the fame time God and m.ammon. Salutation of a boor. The author 
 
 very 
 
 t
 
 CONTENTS. xxi 
 
 very ungallantly negle6ls to requite the fervices of a female flave. A 
 flave's revenge on his niggardly mafter. At a rich widow's hoiife is in 
 danger of being kicked out of doors, on his hat being difcovered with 
 the brina fluck full of infefts. Floats naked over the river to an iflet 
 on a bundle of palmites plants, in order to botanize there. Behaviour 
 of a furly but hofpitable miller. Makes a fexton and his wife happy, 
 by prognofticating the death of the latter. Is hofpitably received by a 
 learned boor. The tower of Babel. Drunken foldiers. Obliged, to- 
 gether with his hoft, to bolt his chamber-door, for fear of being mur- 
 dered by the (laves. A curious love-fcale. Prices of flaves and cattle. 
 Bad confequences of the flave- trade. His guide has not the leaft idea 
 of a deity. Conclufion of the letter, p. 77. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Refidence at Alphen, after the author's return from PaarL 
 Obfervations on the uniola and pifang, p. 79. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Voyage to the South Sea. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 ^he circumftances which gave occqfion to this Voyage. 
 
 Goes round the world with Capt. Cook, as an afliftant to Meflrs. Forfter, 
 The occafion of his undertaking this voyage, p. 84. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to New- Zealand. 
 Continuation of the journal of the voyage, p. ^^, 
 
 SECT.
 
 XXll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Firjl Voyage from New Zealand to Oiaheitey and from thence hack again to 
 
 New Zealand* 
 
 Some events not related by Cook and Forfter, p. 91. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Second Voyage from New Zealand to Otaheite, and from thence hack again. 
 
 Journal continued, p. 97. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Voyage from New Zealand to Terra del Fuego^ and from thence farther ojt 
 
 towards the South Pole. 
 
 Journal continued, p. 99. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Return to the Cape of Good Hope, 
 Return to the Cape. Ship's provifions utterly fpoiled, p. 104. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Journey from Cape Town to the Country of the Caffres. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Refid^nce at Cape Town, previous to the author's African Expedition, 
 
 Dangerous ficuation of a velTel in Table-bay. A fhipwreck. Lives of 
 the crew faved by an old foldier on horfeback, Cruelty and ingratitude 
 
 of
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 of the government at the Cape. Humane inftitution of the Chinefe in 
 thefe cafes. Regifter of the weather at the Cape, for Mav, June, and 
 
 July, 1775^ P- 113- 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Freparations for the African Expedition, 
 
 Undertakes an expedition into the interior parts of the countr)'. Equip- 
 ment for that purpofe. Buys a waggon with twelve oxen. Is accom- 
 panied by Mr. Immelman, the fon of an officer at the Cape, p. 119. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Journey from the Cape to the Warm Bath. 
 
 Bad accommodations on the road. Manner of travelling in the African 
 waggons. Defcription of Guftavus's fceptre, a plant. No bridges in 
 Africa. Account of the manner in which they pafs the rivers with 
 waggons in this country. Defcription of the landfcape about Bot- 
 river. Wretched wine ac Agter de Berg. Sees various forts of gazels 
 in his way to the warm bath j and likewife whole troops of zebras. 
 Oftrich-hunting. Method of reckoning the length of journies here; 
 and of harneffing the oxen, p. i^'?5. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Refidenee at the Warm Bath,. 
 
 Hottentot-Holland's warm baths defcribed. The bathing-houfes and 
 wells. Chemical analyfis of the waters. Cures performed by means 
 of them. Diflertation on their origin. Remains of a volcano. Onkjes, 
 vernal fiowers of the iris kind; their ufes in food, and in reckoning 
 time. Shoots a wild cat in a tree. The different forts of them in this 
 country enumerated and examined. Defcription of a porcupine-hunt. 
 Cape partridges and pheafants, the korr-hen, and fecretaries-bird, other- 
 wife called the ferpent-eater, defcribed. Ufes of this latter, and its 
 manner of attacking ferpents. The author frequently vifits a patient 
 in thefe parts, and is paid in milk and provifions. Wild dogs very 
 dangerous animals. Their manners. Hunt in packs, and fometimes 
 
 3 t"r"r 
 
 xxui
 
 XXIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 turn, when hunted, and hunt their purfuers. Tiger-wolf, or hyaena, eats 
 up the carcafes and bones of animals which are left untouched by 
 other wild beafts, and would otherwife contaminate the atmofphere. 
 Its cowardly but artful manner of attacking other animals. By imi- 
 tating the cries of other creatures, it decoys them away from the relt 
 of the herd, with a view to devour them. Is the moft voracious as 
 well as watchful of all animals. Betrays its approach by an involuntary- 
 barking, proceeding from an empty and conllantly craving flomach. 
 At night is fuffered to enter the town at the Cape, being of great ufe 
 in clearing the fliambles. Adventure of a drunken trumpeter with a 
 hy^na. This fpecies never before accurately defcribed. Eats up one 
 of the traces belonging to the author's waggon. Pretended change of 
 its fex accounted for; as likewife the Ilories of its imitating the human 
 voice, and enchanting the fliepherds, fo that they cannot ilir from the 
 fpot where they are. Seldom caught, and hardly ever ihot. Ufe of 
 this creature's long fliaggy coat, p. 171. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Journey from the Warm Bath to Zwellendam. 
 
 The driver has not the lead knowledge of the road. Not being able to 
 get a Hottentot any where to lead their oxen, make a virtue of neceffity, 
 and turn ox-leaders themfelves. Procures a Hottentot to drive his 
 waggon, who gets at the brandy the author had taken with him, for 
 the purpofe of preferving animals in, and treats his companions with 
 it. The author and his friend in danger of being murdered by thefe 
 fellows in their liquor. The author puts a live ferpent into the liquor. 
 Hottentots iifed to fwallow the poifon of ferpents, confidering it as a 
 prefervative againft the bite of thefe animals. Is cheated in the bargain 
 he made for his oxen. One of them runs home. The farm and foreft 
 at Tiger-hoek defcribed. Defcription of the perfons, clothing, orna- 
 ments, and arm.s of the Hottentots. Befmeared with greafe and foot, 
 which alters their natural complexion. This ill defcribed by authors. The 
 males have no defeft in the organs of generation, nor have the females 
 any fuperfluity in thofe parts : what appears there being not natural but 
 artificial. Hottentots perfume themfelves with the powder of a plant 
 called bucku. Do not wear the.inteftines of animals, but a number of 
 leathern rings about their arms and legs. Their field fhoes. Method 
 of making them particularly defcribed. Their craals or villages and 
 ■huts. Their manners and difpofition, Bolhies-men, or wild Hottentots. 
 
 Their
 
 CONTENTS, XXV 
 
 Their maxims and weapons. Live in dcferts on berrifS, caterpillars, 
 and other infetfls. Their amazing voracity. Are fniall and flender, 
 but, after being caught, are fattened in the fpace of a few weeks. The 
 colonifts hunt them like wild beaflsj and frequently make parties for 
 the purpofe of catching and enflaving them. Very much given to run 
 away, but never carry any thing off with them. Almoft always in a 
 ftarving ftate, and numbers of them perilh for want. Neither they nor 
 the Hottentots have any conception, neither can any be infufed into 
 them, of a God. Confider rain at all times as an evil. Bully the 
 thunder. Have great faith in forccry. The forcerers are their phy- 
 ficians, and cure them of their difeafes by thrafhing them. Inftances 
 of various cheats put on them by their forcerers. Though iuperftitious, 
 are not afraid of darknefs : yet feem to have fome notion of fpirits and 
 a future life. Refpeft, but do not worfhip infedls of the mantis kind. 
 Do not worfhip the moon. Kolbe's miftakes with refpeft to this point 
 correfted. Chriftianity taught at Tygerhoek by a Moravian, who was 
 accufed of finifter practices. No remains of religion here at prefent. 
 Two Hottentot girls pay them a vifit. Their odd behaviour. The 
 author endeavours in vain to hire a driver for the expedition. At iaft 
 a lad agrees to go as far as Zwellendam with them. Sloth andidlenels 
 of the Hottentots. Hard fate and fenfible refleflions of a flavc. 
 Regifter of the weather for Auguft. Heflaqu as kloof. Afingulardiforder 
 among the horfes. The Landroft of Zwellendam offers him a better 
 team of oxen. State of the weather at that place. Zebras and quaggas, 
 both fpecies of the wild horfe. The former do not fear the hy^na, 
 but guard the other cattle from its attacks. Both forts eat lefs, and are 
 more hardy than the common horfe, and might be ufed for drawing. 
 Misfortune of a man who harneffed fome quaggas to his carriage, before 
 they were properly tamed. Riet valley. Language of the Hottentots, 
 compared with that of the Snefe Hottentots. Their mufical inftru- 
 ments and tobacco-pipes. Curious method of fmoking. Their card- 
 playing, improperly fo called by the colonifts, p. 231. 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 Journey from Zwellendam to Muscle-Bay. 
 
 Black^monkies. Groot Vaders-bofch. Stop a bit, a plant growing there. 
 Lofe their way at night. Saddle-oxen. Vifit a Hottentot craal, and 
 are entertained with milk curdled by being kept in the fkins of animals. 
 Vol. L c Sweet
 
 xxvi CONTENTS. 
 
 Sweet milk iinwholefome. The Hottentot Captain Rundganger. 
 Captain an empty title. Captains fpies on their countrymen. Hot- 
 tentots oppreffed by the Dutch, and obliged to fhift their quarters con- 
 tinually more inland. Thorn- or gum-arabic tree. Large dairy-farms. 
 River of butter-milk. Diftinftion between the carrow, four, and fweet 
 fields. The firft rendered fertile by aqueducts. Cows that gnaw each 
 other's horns. Hottentots continually fhifting their quarters, from 
 fuperftitious motives : a practice which prevents the degeneration both 
 of their lands and cattle. Colonifts faulty in this refpe61t. Rhinoceros- 
 bufh. Overflowing of Gauritz-river. Hoar fro ft of" fair. Dcfcription 
 of Mufcle-bay. Houtniquas-land. Algoa-bay. Hints for the ad- 
 vancement of trade and the improvement of the colony, p. 260. 
 
 CHAP. VIL 
 
 Journey through the Houtniquas. 
 
 Animals to be found in Houtniquas. Defcription of the -bofch-bock. 
 Hadelde-bird. Regifterof the weather. Almoft a whole province intoxi- 
 cated with a hogfliead of brandy. Defcription of a Hottentot miftfefs. 
 Baftards not chriflened. Stratagem of a burgher at Batavia to get 
 
 , his child baptized. Style of building in this province. The author's 
 Hottentots run away on being corrected for drunkennefs. State of the 
 weather in September, p. 291. 
 
 CHAP. VIIL 
 
 Journey through Lange Dal. 
 
 Departure from Houtniquas. Lofe their way on horfeback. Pafs the 
 night out of doors, expofed to a violent rain. Artaquas-kloof. In- 
 fefted with a herb called p — grafs, which kills the cattle with the 
 flrangury. Obliged to live abroad in the air, the walls and every part 
 of the houfe being covered by flies. Curious method of killing them. 
 Carina's land. Miflake of Mr. Mafon with refpeft to it in the Philo- 
 fophical Tranfactions. The Canna fhrub, a new fpecies of falfola, 
 defcribed. Method of fertilizing the moft dry barren country. New 
 
 method
 
 CONTENTS. xxvii 
 
 method of dreffing partridges. Trnmoderately fat fheepj with tails 
 ■weighing above twelve pounds. The au,thor bleeds a Hottentot lad. 
 An inftance of Dutch compaflion. Hottentot women's lamentation 
 over the dead. The boy comes to life again. African otters and fifli. 
 Taken in by a farmer's wife in a bargain about a pair of oxen. Strange 
 cafe of a prolapfus uteri. Lofe their way again. Unkind behaviour of 
 fome Hottentots. His horfe finks with him into the mire. Princely 
 fhepherds. Miferable condition of Hottentot fugitives. Stone-heaps. 
 Pittalls for the laro-er kind of 2;ame. Mountain Hottentots. Flight 
 of a Hottentot child. Coal-black lizard. The dafs, an animal of the 
 cavia genus. DafTen-pifs taken for petroiseum. Seems to be the 
 menftrual evacuation of this animal^ p. 310. 
 
 C H A P. IX. 
 
 Journey from I/ANge Dal to Sitsicamma, and from thence to 
 
 Sea-cow River. 
 
 Kromme-rivier. Efchen-bofch. The pneumora/an infe6t fuppofed to live 
 on the v/ind. They come to a. perfon when called. Bofhies-men 
 caroufing on elephants fiefh. Defcription and admeafurement of the 
 remains of the carcafe. How this animal was flipt by tYv^o farmers. 
 The beft methods of fhooting thefe beafts difcuiTed. O.oe man will 
 attack a whole herd of elephants. Ceafe to By v/hen wounded. Ele- 
 phant's way of fwimming. Hiftories of fome da^igerous rencounters 
 v/ith them. De la Caille's ftrange anecdote a rnere impofition. Do 
 not copulate like human cfeatures. Never feeh in the a6t of copula- 
 tioHj excepting once^ by rwo of the author's acquaintance. Elephant's 
 diet. Expence of keeping them. Eliftory and ufe. Negroes buy 
 and fell the rails at a vaft price from fuperftitious motives. Tails de- 
 fcribed. FoiTil elephant's teeth. Mammouth's bones found in Siberia 
 are nothing but the bones of elephants. The theories of Buffon and 
 others overturned. L-emning-moufe, and other migrating animals^ ad- 
 duced as proofs of the author's atfertions. Divers initances of the 
 fagacity of elephants. Wreck of the Doddington Eaft-India.r.an on 
 this coaft. Survivors robbed by the Hottentots. A Dutch captain 
 fent from the Cape to look after the cargo, comes back purpofely with- 
 out doing any thing. Bilious fever prevails among the Elottentots. 
 ^. Strange
 
 KXVHl 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Strano-e method of cure iifed by the author. Hottentot-ball. The 
 bee. Monkey-dance. Polygamy of the Hottentots. Pitiful cafe of 
 an old polygamift. Marriage ceremony performed among the Hot- 
 tentots by fprinkling the bride and bride-groom with urine. Manner 
 of burying their dead. Bury alive or expofe fuch children as have loft 
 their mothers. Starve their old people to death. Extenuation of their 
 crime. Preparations for the expedition through the defert. White 
 ants eaten by the Hottentots. Mifchief done by them. Hottentots 
 imagine the fwarms of locufls with which the country is fometimes 
 over-run, to be fent to them for food. Locuft foup. Locufts of ufe 
 in clearing the lands, p. 36$. 
 
 E R K A T A. 
 
 Tage I, line it for A Voyage from Gottenburgh, &c. ;v^i3^ Voyage from Gotten- 
 burgh to the Cape. 
 
 ■ 18, /. 7, yor quaae, r^aiquaade. 
 
 — — 40, /. 6 and 7, for figgar, read liggar. 
 — — 64, /. 13, before the 'fquire's half brother, read oi, 
 
 ■ — — 179, /. 3, /or Tigerhoek, r^<7i Tygerhoek. 
 ■ I 236, /. 15, for wait, read ftop. 
 
 ■ ■ 283) /. 16, fhouldbe read thus; and was befides as well befmearcd with foot 
 ^nd^reafe. 
 
 A VOYAGE
 
 A 
 
 V O y A G E 
 
 O T K E 
 
 C A P -E o F :rl©i:>0.vfO D HOP E. 
 
 CHAR I. 
 A VOYAGE FROM GOTTENBURGH, Sec. 
 
 ON the loth day of January, in the year 1772, I 1772. 
 failed from Gottenburgh in the Cq/l/e of Stockholm; vi^IJ^* 
 a Ihip belonging to the Swedifh Eaft-India Com- 
 pany. The wind was favourable, fo that we foon dif- 
 mifled our pilots, and even in a Ihort time loll fight 
 of the delightful paflures of Sweden. We found the 
 weather, as it xifually is at this cold feafon, fome- 
 thing milder in the open fea, than it was upon the 
 coaft. The Swedifh Eafl-Indiaman, the Louifa, defined 
 for Cadiz, to take in refrefliments there, with money 
 Vol. L B for
 
 2 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^772. for both fliips, kejDt us company till we paffed the north of 
 C^v^ Scotland. The ftormy weather however, ufual in thefe 
 parts, and at this time of the year, made us feparate before 
 we intended it. The wind blowing flill flronger likewife, 
 carried away our main-top-fail, though it was quite new, 
 and made of a ftrong cloth. The damages were reckoned 
 to amount to feveral hundred rix-dollars. 
 
 This ravage and deftrudlion afforded in itfelf neverthe- 
 lefs a fine fpedacle, which to me was entirely new. 
 Sudden gufts of rain now combined with the night to 
 Ihrowd every thing in darknefs. Let the reader reprefent 
 to himfelf for a moment the foaming billows on all fides 
 furrounding the fliip, and fwelling up fometimes even to 
 our yard-arms ; while the long fliivers of the top-fail got 
 loofe, and being white, were difiinaiy difcerned waving 
 to and fro in a moft alarming manner, and at length to- 
 tally vanifhed through the darkened air. At the fame 
 time the violence of the wind caufed thofe parts of the 
 fails which yet remained on the mafi:, together with the 
 ends of the broken cordage, to beat about, and crafh 
 with fuch force as for a time to drown every other 
 noife. 
 
 This fped^acle did not make the lefs imprefiion, when 
 by degrees we could better diftinguifh the roaring of the 
 fea, the fwell of the waves, the bluftering of the wind, 
 and the crackling noife made by the mafls and the joints 
 of the planks ; particularly when to this we add, that the 
 captain was continually roaring out, and was anfwered in 
 the fame ftrain by the men at the helm, Jiar-board and 
 porty as the Hem of the fhip heaved to right or left ; 
 
 not
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE. 3 
 
 not to mention the ufual noife and buflle from all quar- ^ V^^' 
 
 ^ February, 
 
 ters of the deck, the lailors and tackling being in con- V«/vO 
 Hant agitation and motion. 
 
 On the 2d day of February in the afternoon, when we 
 had got to 34 deg. 22 min. N. lat. i deg. 32 min. eaft of 
 the meridian of Paris, a fhip at a diilance fired feveral guns, 
 thereby giving us to uhderftand that flie was in diftrefs, 
 and defirous to fpeak with us. We accordingly waited for 
 her coming up, and found her to be a Dutch Eaft-India- 
 man, called the Duivenbrock, bound homewards, and com- 
 manded by Capt. Conrad Loue. They had loft their 
 rudder, and in confequence of the great fwell of the fea, 
 had not been able to lalh on another ; on which account 
 likewife the fhip had got fo far out of her courfe. The 
 crew were emaciated to a great degree, and in want both 
 of water and provifions. Our commander made them a 
 prefent of as much of both as their long-boats were able 
 to carry ; but at length, the night coming on, and the wind 
 blowing up freflier, they were deprived of that farther de- 
 gree of afliftance, that every one of us very much wiflied to 
 give them. Even our common failors not only fliewed 
 great compaflion on their parts, but allifted them effec- 
 tually out of their own ftock with tobacco, and other re- 
 frelliments. 
 
 On the 1 2th day of February, juft under the tropic, or 
 24. 51. N. Lat. we faw a fea animal feven or eight feet 
 long, known to fea-faring men by the name of the fea 
 devil. It is reported by writers of voyages, to be very 
 dangerous to the people engaged in the pearl-fifliery. In 
 a voyage to China I formerly made, I happened to fee one 
 
 B 2 of
 
 ^ AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^772- of thefe animals, and on examining it, concluded it to be 
 
 February, 
 
 ^•vO a fpecies of Ray. 
 
 On the 2 1 ft day of February at fix in the evening, 3 deg. 
 24. min. N. of the equator, we obferved a beautiful meteor. 
 It was like a red hot cannon-ball, which waved to and fro 
 with a gentle whizzing noife, dire6lly over our veffel, and 
 between the maft-tops ; but notwithftanding what the 
 failors prognofticated from it, it did not feem to bring 
 with it any change of weather. 
 
 On the 4th day of March we pafled the line, when a 
 number of idle ceremonies v^ere performed according to 
 cuftom. 
 
 On the 5th, at about 37 deg. S. lat. and 21 deg. weft 
 of Paris, befide the ufual lights that frequently appear 
 fparkling, as it were, on the furface of the fea> there was 
 feen in the night a ftrong gleam of light, called by the 
 failors maarjken^ or fea-fliine. It appeared chiefly in a 
 round form of three feet diameter, and was like a glow- 
 ing light throughout its whole extent. As the fliape 
 of it was fometimes changed to an oblong, it was con- 
 jectured, from this circumftance, to be occaiioned by the 
 dafliing of the fea. With luminous, bodies of this kind 
 the whole extent of the ocean was now adorned, fome- 
 times at the diftance of feveral times the length of the 
 Ihip from each other, and fometimes only a few feet 
 afunder. We were not fortunate enough to examine them> 
 nearer. 
 
 The wind at times blew freili, being fometimes accom- 
 panied with heavy ftiowers of rain. The. next day there, 
 was nothing uncommon to be obferved on the furface of 
 
 the
 
 GAPEofGOODHOPE. 5 
 
 the fea, that mi^ht be confidered as the caufe of this ^17-^' 
 
 ^ * • 1 March. 
 
 luminous appearance. A night or two before this, we had \yy>j 
 already begun to perceive fome of thefe lights. The wea- 
 ther at that time was only overcaft. Some of the molt 
 experienced among the failors informed me, that thefe 
 lights were met with particularly in the north feas, as well 
 as in the creeks on the coaft of Mexico ; and that from 
 thefe appearances they ufed to prognofticate a fpeedy 
 change in the- weather. The lights that are ufually i^^n 
 in the fea are fuppofed to proceed partly from the confti- 
 tuent parts of the fea itfelf, and partly from the filli and 
 otherkindsof infinitelvfmall animals which have their abode 
 there* But with refpedl to the maarjken^ I have not found 
 any navigators fpeak of them. Are they not occaiioned 
 by fome flimy or gelatinous animals (fuch as the niollufcd)^ 
 which only of nights, at certain places, and in confequence 
 of certain changes of the atmofphere, rife to the furface 
 of the fea ? The fame riling and linking motion, which 
 I now obferved in thefe animals, I remember to have per- 
 ceived in the Medufce^ particularly in the year 1775, i^ ^'^ 
 bays about the Cape of Good Hope, after my return from 
 my voyage round the world. At that time it had been^ 
 llormy the whole preceding night, with a great part of the 
 following morning; when, to my great amazement, after 
 fo long a voyage, I now, for the lirll time, faw thefe fea- 
 animals in fuch quantities, as to form a thick mafs of fe- 
 ver al fathoms depth, as if they had been prefTed down 
 together. Where they were collecfted into a thinner mafs^ 
 one might difcern that one part of them was blue, ano- 
 ther of a flame- colour, and another again of a lighter 
 
 hue.
 
 6 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^772- hue. They were moflly of the form of a necklace (momH^ 
 
 March. ' 1 1 • z' 
 
 V,^vx-^ formes,) and at that time were probably driven together m fo 
 great numbers by the ftorm ; fo that the great quantities of 
 niaarjken, ferve to give a flill greater degree of credit to my 
 conje6lure. A fmall corner only of the fea, viz. T'ahle-bay^ 
 at this time afforded nourifhment to more animals at once, 
 than perhaps are to be found on the whole face of the 
 earth. This opened to me a door, if I may be allowed the 
 expreflion, to nature's copious ftorehoufe in the deep ; fo 
 that at one hafty view I could get a glimpfe of that 
 amazing fuperfluity, which feeds millions of fifhes, and 
 at the fame time lines the inlide of the whale, that great 
 Coloffus of the deep, with that oily fatnefs, with which 
 it abounds. 
 
 It may from hence be readily concluded, that it was 
 thefe infecSls that the fat fea-lions and feals, diving and 
 amphibious fowls, many kinds of albatroffes, {diomedeos) 
 procellaricBy together with fea-gulls of all forts, were in 
 quefl of, when I faw thefe latter fo afliduouily hunting 
 about near the Cape, and in the South Sea. 
 
 On the 1 2th of April we got fight of the Cape, and 
 came the fame day to anchor in Table-bay. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 C H A P. 11. 
 
 Residence at the Cape of Good Hope till the 
 Author's Voyage to the South Sea. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Reficlence at Cape Town* 
 
 THE Cape is ufually mentioned in too high terms m^' 
 by fea-faring men ; particularly by fuch as have been \^^^ 
 there only for a Ihort time. The reafon probably is, that 
 people, who are weary of a long and tedious voyage of 
 feveral months duration, are ufually enchanted with the 
 firft fpot of earth they fet foot upon, of which they after- 
 wards make their reports according to the impreilion it 
 firfl made upon them. This is fo much more likely to 
 happen with refpedt to the Cape, as fea-faring men are 
 feldom ufed to ftay there long enough to be weary of it. 
 On the contrary, however, it is not unufual for failors to pine 
 and grow unhappy even here, after being fome months on 
 Ihore, and to long to go to fea again. I have been informed 
 
 by
 
 8 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 '772- by Captain Cook, that he, as well as Sh' Joseph Banks 
 v^'^ and Dr. Solander, prejudiced by the relations of others, 
 confidered the Cape, the firfl time they faw it, as the moft 
 delightful and fertile place in the world. So that even 
 the barren heaths to the north of the town, were at the 
 fame time very innocently miftaken for fine fields of corn. 
 
 For my part, not to lead my readers into any error 
 concerning this point, the account I here give of the Cape 
 has not been written without fome confideration, I mufl, 
 notwithftanding, previoufly remind them, that a view of the 
 map inferted at the end of the book, will give the befl 
 and ciearell idea of the pofition of the harbours and 
 creeks of this part of the world, as well as of the names 
 and fituation of the different mountains. By this means 
 the following defcription will be the more eafUy un- 
 derflood. 
 
 The town itfelf is the only one in the whole colony, 
 and is properly called the Cape^ though this name is often 
 injudicioufly given to the whole fettlement. The above- 
 mentioned town is fituated between the fliore and the north, 
 fide of the mountain, which, in confideration of its appa- 
 rent equality of furface, has obtained the name of the Table, 
 According to the meafurement of the Abbe de la Gailles, 
 the fliore of this bay is 550 toifes above the furface of 
 the fea, and 1344 toifes in length, when taken from Eafl 
 to Weft ; the middlemoft part of it being fituated South- 
 eafl of the town, and 2000 toifes from it. 
 
 Buyver s-Kopt (the DeviPs-Head^) called by the Eng- 
 
 lifh Charles Mountain^ is in a great meafure conne6ted 
 
 with the liable Mountain^ but is full 31 toifes lower, 
 
 5 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 9 
 
 and at the fame time is peaked and bare. Leeuzven-Kop^ uzrlh 
 called by the Englifli the Lion^ s-Head^ and hkewife the ^^•-ynJ 
 Sugar-Loaf^ is a hill more feparated, but lefs elevated, 
 than the former : the fame may be faid of its neighbour, 
 the Leeuwen-Staart, called by the Englifli the Liorfs-Rumpy 
 and like wife the Li on'' s -Tail, 
 
 From one of thefe fignals are given, by the firing of 
 guns for every veffel that comes that way, and appears 
 bound for the harbour. When they approach Hill nearer, 
 a flag is hoifted on this mountain, which ferves for a 
 fignal to the captains of the Dutch fhips ; but nobody but 
 they and the governor of the Cape know, how the colour 
 of the flag is to be varied for each refpeclive month. 
 The intention of this regulation is, that a Dutchman who 
 is coming into the harbour, may immediately know, if the 
 harbour is fallen into the hands of the enemy, and ac- 
 cordingly take care not to run into it. 
 
 The above-mentioned hills are in a great meafure bare, 
 and that part of Table Mountain that looks towards the 
 town is pretty fteep. The buflies and trees (if they may 
 be fo called) which here and there grow wild, are flunted 
 partly by their own nature, and partly by the South-eaft 
 and North- weft winds. Hence they, moft of them, look 
 dried up, with pale blighted leaves, and, upon the whole, 
 have a miferable appearance. Some of them, llieltered 
 by the cliffs, and at the fame time watered by the rills that 
 run down the fides of the mountain, may perhaps be fome- 
 what more healthy and vigorous ; but they are univerfally 
 deficient in that lively verdure which adorns the oaks, 
 vines, myrtles, laurels, lemon-trees, Sec. planted at the 
 
 V L. I. C bottom
 
 jQ A VOYA G E TO THE 
 
 '7/2- bottom near the town. StiJ) farther on, the dry heathy 
 V^'-O lands and fandy plains on the ftrand, contribute to give 
 the country an arid and barren look. It muft be owned, 
 indeed, that a confiderable quantity of the mofl beautiful 
 African flowers are fcattered up and down in different parts 
 during the fine feafon ; but they cannot fliew their fplendid 
 colours to any great advantage among the various kinds of 
 grafs here, which are moflly perennial and of a pallid 
 hue, among the dry buflies, and in the fields, which, at 
 leaft near the Gape, are almoft continually grazed off. 
 Thefe plains, therefore, cannot captivate the eye, nearly 
 fo much as the European Flora, w4th her green meadows 
 replete with annual grafs. I am ready to allow, indeed, 
 that the verdant plantations, together with a few acres of 
 arable land round about the town, make a beautiful ap- 
 pearance, oppofed to the African wilds and deferts with 
 which they are furrounded, and which ferve to fet them 
 off to a greater advantage ; but then clipped and trimmed 
 trees, with regular plantations of groves reared up by art, 
 cannot fo long keep their ground in our tafte, as that 
 lively verdure of nature which a European, at leafl after 
 having refided for fome time at the Gape, I think cannot 
 help miffing. 
 
 The town is fmall, about 2000 paces in length and 
 breadth, including the gardens and orchards, by which 
 one fide of it is terminated. The flreets are broad, but 
 not paved ; a great many of them are planted viith oaks. 
 The houfes are handfome, two ftories high at the moft ; 
 the greateft part of them are fluccoed and white-wafhed 
 on the outfide, but fome of them are painted green : this 
 
 latter
 
 C A P E OF GO O D H O P E. ii 
 
 latter colour, v/hich is never feen upon our houfes in ^772- 
 
 April. 
 
 Sweden, being the favourite colour with the Dutch for v^rO 
 their clothes, boats, and fhips. 
 
 A great part of their houfes as well as churches are 
 covered with a fort of dark-coloured reed {Rejiio teSiorum) 
 which grows in dry and fandy places. It is fomewhat 
 more firm than ftraw, but rather finer and more brittle. 
 
 How this thatching is performed, certainly deferves the 
 conlideration of our country gentlemen and men of landed 
 property ; and a defcription of it will be given by Captain 
 Ekeberg on fome other occafion. The reft of the houfes 
 in the Cape are covered with what is called Italian tiling, 
 which refembles the flat tiles we ufe for floors. 
 
 The company's gardens, fo differently fpoken of by 
 KoLBE, Byron, and Bougainville, are the largeft in the 
 town, being 400 paces broad and 1000 long, and confift- 
 ing of various quarters planted with cale, and other kinds 
 of garden ftuff, for the governor'^s own table, as well as 
 for the ufe of the Dutch fliips and of the hofpital. Fruit- 
 trees are planted in fome of the quarters, which, in order 
 to fhelter them from the violence of the South-eaft wind, 
 are furrounded with hedges of myrtle and elm. Befides 
 this, the greater walks are ornamented with oaks thirty 
 feet high, which by their fhade produce an agreeable cool- 
 nefs, and are much reforted to by the ftrangers that vifit 
 the port, and chufe to walk in the heat of the day. 
 
 The four quarters that lie neareft to the governor's 
 refidence, which is fituated in the pleafure-garden towards 
 the north, have indeed fome beds of flowers in them ; but 
 this pleafure-garden is very far from deferving the com- 
 
 C a meiidations
 
 la A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 V72. mendations beftowed upon it by Kolbe, who cries it up as 
 
 April. ^ ■' 
 
 K.^-Y>^ having no equal, and being ftored with the molt coitly 
 plants from all parts of the world. At the end of the 
 pleafure-garden and to the eaft of it, is the menagerie, 
 palifaded and railed off, in which are lliewn ojlrichesy 
 cafuarieSy zebras^ and fometimes different forts of antilopesy 
 and other fmaller quadrupeds, almoft all of them natives of 
 the country. In another partition are kept various fo- 
 reign and domeftic fowls. 
 
 The fortifications lie fome hundred paces north of the 
 town, being feparated from it by a verdant mead, which is 
 cut through with canals and roads. On both fides of the 
 town towards the flrand, batteries are placed ; and to the 
 fouth, where the land is higher, are feen the burial grounds 
 of the Chinefe and free Malays that live at the Cape ; as 
 well as one belonging to the Dutch, which has a wall 
 round it. But what difgraces the town is a gallows, with 
 racks and other horrid inflruments of torture, which the 
 governor has lately ordered to be erecSled in the place of 
 honour, if I may fo call it, or oppofite to the fortification 
 in the above-mentioned meadow. Befides this, the well- 
 known hardnefs of heart of the Dutch fettled in the Indies, 
 has fhewn itfelf here by two other gibbets erected with- 
 in fight of the town, viz. one on each fide of it. 
 
 On the 30 th of April, being the morning after we 
 came to anchor^ I for the firft time fet foot upon African 
 ground. The firfl thing I did was to wait upon the go- 
 vernor. Baron Joachim von Plettenberg, to whom I 
 paid my refpedls, and intimated my wifli to live under his 
 protedtion. As foon as he was informed of the nature of 
 
 my
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 13 
 
 my appointment, he granted my requeft without the leafl ^'^?j- 
 difficulty ; and foon offered me the privilege of pra6lifing ^^•vv-' 
 phyfic, as I had given him to underftand, that it had been my 
 principal fludy. Upon the whole, I received great civilities 
 from many members of the regency, particularly from 
 the commander of the troops. Baron van Prehm, who 
 was an African born ; but, what is very rare with his 
 countrvmen, and to his honour mufl be mentioned, he 
 had vifited Europe, and was a lover of fcience. Neither 
 mufl it be pafTed over in fUence, that he had ferved in the 
 capacity of a PrufTian aide de ca?np in the lafl German war ; 
 and, as a proof of his having been in the wars, bore about 
 him the fears of feveral wounds. As it may give pleafure 
 to fuch as are fond of hearing that merit meets with its re- 
 ward, I will add, that he returned invefled with the place 
 he now enjoys, and about the fame time made his fortune, 
 by marrying the finelt woman in the whole colony. 
 
 SECT.
 
 14 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 S E C T. II. 
 
 Refidence at Bay Faljo. 
 
 1772- A LTHOUGH I had already been fome days at the 
 \^J^^ /a. Cape<^ I had not yet had an opportunity to fee the 
 relident, (now Jub-governor) whofe children I was to in- 
 flru6t. The reafon was, that he was gone to Bay Falfoy 
 about eighteen miles from the Gape, in order to receive 
 and make provifion for the fhips which had jufl before 
 run into the Bay. I therefore fet out to pay him a vifit 
 there ; but flaid over night at a refpedtable yeoman's, to 
 whom I was addreffed, in order that he might be my 
 guide. Here I for the firft time found, what inconve- 
 niences a man is expofed to, who does not underftand the 
 language of the people among which he lives. I had 
 made a lliift to pick up a little German in my voyage from 
 Gottenburgh to the Cape ; but this was but of very little 
 fervice, either towards my making myfelf underftood in 
 this place, or towards my underflanding a Dutchman in 
 his language. The neceHity, however, that I was under 
 of communicating my thoughts, contrary to what I had 
 fuppofed, increafed my power of comprehending others, 
 as well as that of exprefling my own meaning. My 
 holl, who was very inquifitive with regard to affairs 
 
 3 ii^
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 15 
 
 in Europe, as well as deflrous to get fome information on ^772- 
 medical fubjedts, was inceffantly propounding his queftions 's^rO 
 to me, as well as he could, in the German tongue. I, on 
 my lide, repeated my anfwers again and again, expreiling 
 them, in I myfelf did not know what language. It lliould 
 feem, that the German, Swedifli, and Dutch languages 
 have a great analogy to, and much in common with each 
 other ; but the great difference in the pronunciation of 
 them, as well as in their diale6ls, feldom allows one to per- 
 ceive the limilitude. My phlegmatic hoflefs, who flood 
 by with open mouth to overhear our converfation, without 
 underflanding one fingle word of it, relying upon my ig- 
 norance of the language, afked her hufband, whether any 
 thing elfe than abfolute want of the necefTaries of life in 
 Europe could poflibly induce me, and many other ftran- 
 gers, to come to refide in Africa ? This remark fhewed, 
 that fhe had conceived very indifferent notions of Grangers ; 
 and was the more difficult for me to digefl, as they had 
 given me a very moderate fupper, confifling of Hewed 
 red cabbage, meat preferved with pepper, and gritty bread. 
 I mention this, however, only as a proof, that the Afri- 
 cans, ignorant of every thing beyond the limits of their 
 own habitation, univerfally entertain moft advantageous 
 and flattering ideas with refpecl to their own country. 
 
 The next morning I arrived at Bay Falfo, The refi- 
 dent there promifed to perform his engagement with 
 Captain Ekeberg, and likewife conferred upon me im- 
 mediately the pofl of interpreter between him and the 
 French, who came to that harbour. The politenefs of 
 this nation in conjedluring what one is going to fay, and 
 
 at
 
 i6 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^772- at the fame time corre6ling one in the moft infinuating 
 v.*^rO manner when one makes ufe of an improper expreilion in 
 their language, was at this jun6liire extremely agreeable 
 to me ; and the more fo, as I had not the leall knowledge 
 of the diale^l and terms in ufe among them in India. In 
 this kind of civility, which proceeds from a good difpofi- 
 tion as well as a good education, many of the inhabitants 
 of the Cape, the fair fex in particular, wxre moft la- 
 mentably deficient. On this account, the Europeans are 
 apt to conceive rather unfavourable ideas of the politenefs 
 of the African colonifts. However this be, thefe latter 
 learn very little of any foreign language, though they are 
 otherwife indefatigable in their application to trade, and 
 every thing that tends to their emohim^nt ; and although 
 the income of the whole colony, as well as the particular 
 intereft of moft of the inhabitants, depends entirely on 
 their trade with foreigners. 
 
 The next day I went back again to the Cape, to fetch my 
 baggage from on board of fhip, and take leave of my friends. 
 I could not help being tenderly affe6led at parting from them, 
 and indeed this w^as the laft time that I faw many of them. 
 It was not till I had loft ftght of the Swedifli colours, that 
 I felt myfelf an abfolute ftranger on the African coaft. 
 
 During the few days, however, that I yet had to ftay in 
 town, I enjoyed the greateft felicity in the company of an 
 old Upfal chum. Dr. Thunberg, now demonftrator in 
 that univerlity, whofe tafte for botany had induced him to 
 imdertake a voyage to this remoteft point of Africa. He 
 travelled at the expence of fome gentlemen in Holland, 
 and had come hither wdth a Dutch fliip a few days after 
 
 me.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 1,7 
 
 me. Nothing could have happened more unexpecSled to ^^-/z- 
 him, than to fee in perfon at the Cape, a man whom, agree- V-^"y-0 
 able to the latefl advices, he now fuppofed to be at Upfal, 
 engaged in courfes of academical ledlures ; and nothing 
 could be more pleafing to him, than to receive the letters 
 which I brought him from his friends and relations. 
 
 I was foon however obliged to return to Falfe-bay^ by 
 which means I loil the company of my countryman, who 
 alone could make the Cape for me a little Sweden ; and ren- 
 der our favourite ftudy, which we both applied to in com- 
 mon, flill more eafy and delightful. In the meanwhile, 
 perhaps none but a lover of natural hiflory can imagine, 
 what pleafure we enjoyed together among the herbs and 
 flowers. At firft almofl every day was a rich harvefl of 
 the rareft and moft beautiful plants; and I had almoft 
 faid, that at every flep we made one or more new difco- 
 veries. And as I had many Swedifh friends, and parti- 
 cularly the great Linn^^-US, always prefent in my memo- 
 ry, every duplicate or triplicate of the plants that I ga^ 
 thered, gave me a fenfible pleafure ; though my covet- 
 oufnefs for myfelf and my friends, frequently induced me 
 to gather more than I was able to attend to, and dry in a 
 proper manner. This, doubtlefs, happens more or lefs to 
 every botanift who travels into foreign parts : but belides 
 this circumftance, I was not a little taken off, by my bu^. 
 fmefs with the refident, from the more agreeable applica- 
 tion to my beloved fcience. 
 
 By this means I was often deprived of opportunities of 
 invefligating fome of thofe plants that I had collected : I 
 therefore negledted no opportunity offending to Sir Ch arises 
 
 Vol. I, D Linnaeus
 
 xg A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 *772- LiNNiEUS duplicates of every thing I found, together with 
 V^^ my remarks upon them. Unfortunately this great man's 
 illnefs, declining years, and intervening death, have prevent- 
 ed us long from feeing them in print, in a Mantijfa tertia* 
 I w^as now to refide in Falfe-bay till the end of the 
 winter, which is called the bad feafon (in Dutch, quaae 
 moujfon^) and is reckoned from the 1 4th of May till the 
 14th of Auguft. It is not diftinguiflied by any particu- 
 lar degree of cold ; for we had frequently at this time the 
 finefl fummer days. Once or twice there fell fome hail, 
 but I never faw any fnow. We had fometimes the mofl 
 violent fhowers of rain, and that moftly for feveral days 
 in continuation, by which means the air was very fenlibly 
 cooled. We were not nnfrequently troubled with the 
 north-weft wind, and this is principally the reafon why the 
 Dutch fhips, at the time of year before- mentioned, have 
 been ordered to run into 'Table-bay^ ever lince the year 
 1722; when out of ten fhips belonging to that nation 
 lying there, eight were caft on fhore and loft. This like- 
 Avife has induced the Dutch company to have ready at hand 
 every neceflary for their fliips, under the infpedlion of the 
 Reftdent at Fal/e-bay, They have erecTted here an exten- 
 iive magazine, which at the fame time includes forges and 
 baking-houfes, with ho\ife-room for the workmen, w^ho 
 do the whole duty of the guard, and are commanded by a 
 ferjeant and two corporals. The flaughter-houfe makes a 
 diftindl building by itfelf, as do likewife the Reftdent's 
 houfe and the hofpital. About the time of my departure 
 from Africa, they were building another large and hand- 
 fome houfe for the accommodation of the Governor, when 
 
 he
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 19 
 
 he chufes to retire thither for his pleafui'e. Good frefli 177 2- 
 
 ■'■ April. 
 
 water is conveyed from the neighbouring hill to a quay, ^^•vV 
 where it is very convenient for ufe. A tradefman or two 
 have got leave to build an inn here, in which, however, there 
 is not always room and conveniencies fufficient to receive all 
 luch as, after along fea-voy age, are delirous of re fre filing 
 themfelves on fliore ; the fliips that land here being chiefly 
 fuch as contain not much above twenty paiTengers. Board 
 and lodging are paid for here as at the Cape^ from one rix- 
 dollar to one and a half a day ; a tolerable good table is like- 
 wife ufually kept here, and the attendance is none of the 
 worft. A perfon that willies to go poft from Falfe-hay to 
 the Cape^ a diftance of about iixteen miles, will find it com- 
 paratively dear enough. Three or four rix-doUars muft be 
 paid for a faddle-horfe, and from twelve to fixteen for a 
 waggon ; which is, for the moft part, inconvenient, and 
 ufually drawn by three or four pair of horfes, or elfe by 
 the fame number of oxen. 
 
 Excepting in the winter, Falfe-hay is feldom or ever 
 vifited by any fliips, as the fouth-eaft wind, which pre- 
 vails at every other time of the year, makes this Bay in 
 many refpe6ls inconvenient ; blowing with fuch violence, 
 as to cover two hills there with a thick layer of drift fand, 
 all along from the flrand up to their very tops. This ridge 
 of fand is feen from afar from the mouth of the harbour, 
 and ferves as a beacon for fliips ; for Simon\'bay^ which 
 is the place where they are to anchor, lies dire6lly from 
 the eaft, or foniething more to the fouth. The breadth of 
 Falfe-bay is not fo great, but that in clear fine weather, 
 one may fee from Simon s-bay the lands laying oppolite in 
 
 D 2 the
 
 ao AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^77.2- the eaft, or the Schaapen-Bergen (Sheep-Mountains) in Hot" 
 L^'V^ tentots Holland \ and with a perfpedlive glafs, one may even 
 diflinguifli the houfes in the laft mentioned place. 
 
 From the point of land, called the Gape of Good Hope, 
 ftraight on to the town itfelf, there is extended a chain of 
 hills, which, following the courfe of the ftrand in Simon's' 
 bayy is continued to the northernmofl part or bottom of 
 Falfe-hay ; and afterwards, ftriking off to the w^eftward to 
 Conjlantia^ goes on to the north of it, to join 'Table- 
 Mountain, This range of mountains, however, reckon- 
 ing from Simon\-hay<f is intercepted in two places, viz. 
 firfl, by means of a dale near Conjlantia^ through which the 
 road goes to Hout-bay ; and next, by a faiidy vale a little 
 to the north of Simon's-bay, Through this vale there is 
 a fliort way between the weftern and eaflern coafls ; and 
 in all probability it was formerly a fmall ftraight or found, 
 which has been gradually filled up by the wnnds and furge 
 of the fea. The w^hole of the low lands, conlifling of 
 fandy plains and tracks of heathy country to the eaft of the 
 town, was in all likelihood formed in the fame manner ; 
 and the Cape of Good Hope was in the beginning an 
 ifland, which was not connected with the Tiger-Moun- 
 tain and fhore of Hottentots Holland, but by degrees, and 
 in the courfe of time. It is, in my opinion, particularly 
 with fand, fea-fhells, trunks of trees, and fuch like rub- 
 bifli, that the fea has thus encroached upon the land, and 
 fct itfelf narrower limits. To this the violence of the 
 fouth-eaft wind contributes not a little, as it fometimes 
 tears up hedges, trees, and vegetables of all kinds by the 
 
 roots,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 21 
 
 roots, at the fame time calling up high ridges of fand, as ^772- 
 I mentioned before. ^^r>J 
 
 Even T'able-bay is by degrees grown Ihallower ; fo that 
 the hoiife that is built by the fea-fhore is now farther from 
 it, and time after time they have been obliged to lengthen 
 the quay that has been made in the harbour. Farther, 
 in refpe6l to this circumftance, I can refer to the lliells of 
 different fizes that I found in the fandy parts of a meadow 
 a little below Tiger-Mountain. A well-behaved and fen- 
 Hble yeoman, Cornelius Vervey by name, who con- 
 dudled me to this place, fituated at the diftance of about two 
 leagues from the fea-fliore, was of opinion, that the fea- 
 fhells were left in that place, after the fea had retired from 
 it, but were by no means brought thither by the Hotten- 
 tots, as they could not pollibly live there on account of 
 the want of water. 
 
 The road between the Cape and Falfe-bay is very heavy, 
 and even fometimes dangerous. At this latter place, at 
 the time that the fouth-eaffc wind prevails, there is wont 
 to be fo high a tide, that the fea, even at its loweft ebb> 
 at fome places rifes up to the foot of the mountains, which 
 partly encompafs this extenfive harbour ; io that one is 
 obliged to travel for a long way (as it were) below the 
 fhore, though the furf or furge of the fea often rifes above 
 the nave of the wheels, and even into the body of the 
 waggon ; nay, it fometimes feems as it would carry out 
 to fea waggon, horfes, and all. For which reafon they 
 have in general extremely flrong and fubftantial waggons, 
 and Heady horfes, that are accultomed to this kind of 
 work, together with fober and ikilful drivers, fo that an 
 
 accident
 
 <i2 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '"72- accident of this kind cannot eafily happen : relying upon 
 C^vO thefe, jieople fometinies even drive a little below the fea^ 
 Hiore, as the fands are there prelTed down and even ; 
 whereas higher up they are loofe, deep, and heavy. In 
 a large plain, that clofes up the north fide of Falfe-bay^ 
 there is a confiderable field of fand, through which the 
 road is carried. This the violent rains, that fall in the 
 ^vinter feafon, joined to a higher tide than ufual, are wont 
 fometinies to lay entirely under water ; fo that travellers 
 are in danger of getting up to the middle in holes and pits. 
 Some accidents of this kind happened the winter I was 
 there. 
 
 Ships of various nations, Englifli, French, and parti- 
 cularly the Dutch Eaft-Indiamen, anchorcd this feafon in 
 Simon^'hay, The principal officers and pafTengers of this 
 nation lodged chiefly with the relident ; fo that at meal- 
 times, various European diale6ls, together with the lan- 
 guages ufed in commerce with the Indians, viz. the Malay, 
 and a very bad kind of Portuguefe, Avere fj^oken all at one 
 time ; fo that the confufion was almofl equal to that of 
 the Tower of Babel. The diffimilitude likewife in man- 
 ners and behaviour was fometimes equally great. A 
 circumftance that occurred on this occalion, and that ap- 
 peared to me rather lingular, deferves to be mentioned. 
 When the flrangers of other nations began their defert, 
 two Dutch captains put on their hats and lighted their 
 pipes. Upon this I afked fome Dutchmen that fat by me, 
 whether this was not looked upon as unufual and impolite ? 
 I was anfwered, that tobacco was a more delicious defert, 
 and had more charms for an old failor, than cakes and 
 6 fweet-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. i^ 
 
 fweet-meats ; and that this cuflom is ftill more pradlifed ^772. 
 in other places in the Eaft-Indies. Indeed I obferved at V^yv^ 
 the Cape, that the Dutch commonly wore their hats in 
 the hoiife, and that even in company, without its being 
 looked upon as the leaft breach of politenefs. At leaft the 
 cuftom, which is conflantly pra6lifed in Europe, of carry- 
 ing one's hat under one's arm, is flill more unnatural. 
 This moll: undeniably abfurd pradice I never obferved in 
 the Eaft-Indies. 
 
 We often enjoyed the company of Enghfli ladies, forne 
 of whom even ftaid out our elegant defert of pipes and 
 tobacco. Some of thefe ladies came from the Eaft-Indies, 
 on their return from Europe, and fome from England. 
 The married ones, to fee their huft)ands either at Bontbayy 
 Madras^ or Be7igal% the unmarried ones, to get hufbands. 
 Some of the former had not feen their hufbands for feve- 
 ral years, thefe not having being able to fend for them 
 before, for want of having acquired money enough to 
 keep houfe in the expenlive manner requifite in this part 
 of the world. The latter feldom make the voyage in vain, 
 being extremely welcome to fuch of the fingle men, as 
 have had time to get a tolerable fliare of the treafures of 
 India, but could not perfuade themfelves to wed the dark 
 Indian beauties, (as many however are accuftomed to do) 
 and have not had leifure to go to Europe merely for the 
 purpofe of chuling themfelves wives. It was therefore 
 luppofed, that fome of thefe beautiful travellers were ac- 
 tually, in a manner, fent for by commiiiion, though not 
 inferted in the invoice. 
 
 Be
 
 24 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »772- Be that, however, as it may ; they all in the mean 
 
 i^Jr\J \yhile feemed highly deferving of rich and good hufbands, 
 as well for their courage and refolution in venturing upon 
 the ocean, as for many other fine quahties they were pof- 
 felTed of. As they were always in the company and under 
 the care of fome i'efpe6lable married lady, nobody feemed 
 to harbour the leaft doubt of their good condudl. On this 
 occalion, the following anecdote deferves to be mentioned. 
 One of the ladies, w^ho had fome time before palTed by 
 the Cape, had been fent for to be married to a certain 
 governor. He, as foon as flie arrived, w^as for perform- 
 ing his engagements immediately ; but the lady poiitively 
 refufed, and finally gave as a reafon for her conduct, that 
 fhe did not chufe to deceive him ; for during her voyage, 
 fhe had betrothed herfelf to the captain of the fhip, who 
 however was bafe enough to retradl his promife, although 
 fhe feared that their connexion had been produdlive of 
 certain difagreeable confequences. The governor repaid 
 her franknefs by the mofl generous condu6l ; and was not 
 at all furprized that flie fhould rather give her hand to a 
 young fellow, v/ho had beiides had the advantage of be- 
 ing on the fpot, than wait in uncertainty for an elderly 
 man, who was an abfolute llranger to her, and was more^ 
 over at a diftance from her. He therefore married her 
 himfelf without hefitation, after having in vain endeavour- 
 ed to perfuade her falfe lover to take this Hep. 
 
 The little ifland of Malagas in Falfe-hay^ is particularly 
 reforted to by penguins and feals ; and although Robben (or 
 Seal Ifland) otherwife called Penguin Ifland in ^able-bay^ 
 bears the name of thefe latter animals, yet they are feldom 
 
 found
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 25 
 
 found there now, fince the ifland has been inhabited. But jl'^v 
 
 April. 
 
 on Daffen liland they are found in much greater quanti- V.^vO 
 ties, infomuch that fometimes a general fliooting party is 
 made with advantage to deilroy the feals there, for the fake 
 of their bhibber. Their fkins, though very good in their 
 kind, are to be had very cheap ; and are, as far as I know, 
 in requefl only among the boors for tobacco-pouches, for . 
 which they are extremely well calculated, as they keep the 
 tobacco from growing dry. I brought home with me the 
 fluffed foetus of a pboca from the Gape. It is of the fame 
 fpecies with thofe that I invefligated together with MefTrs, 
 FoRSTER, and eat at New Zeeland^ T'erra Del Fuego^ and 
 the Southern 'Thuie. When the train-oil was feparated, the - 
 flefh was really good and , eatable, efpecially as in thofe 
 places we could get nothing better : we imagined indeed, 
 that it tafled like beef, but it muft be owned that it had a 
 difagreable black hue. 
 
 I have opened the intef^ines of divers pboca, and always 
 found them empty, excepting a little fand and fmall fea- 
 Ihells, together with a fev/ flones from the fize of a nut 
 to that of an Qgg. The reafon of this emptinefs of the 
 bowels may have been, either that thefe creatures have 
 very ftrong digeftive powers, fo as fpeedily to difTolve the 
 fea animals on which they probably live, or elfe, that during 
 their dwelling and copulating on fliore, they abflain for a 
 long time from all food whatever. 
 
 Various forts oi fea-fijlj are taken at the Cape and Falfe- 
 hay. At the latter place they had jufl caught the eledfric 
 ray-Jipj, {rata torpedo) but unluckily I chanced to be 
 abfent, w^hile it \yas yet alive^ and experiments; were mp.ie 
 
 V o L. I. E with
 
 26 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »77.2- with it. Out of feveral that touched it, every one had felt (as 
 \^y^^^ it were) a ftong ele6tric fhock, the relident only excepted, 
 who could handle this fifli without the leaft inconvenience. 
 Whether he was in like manner infenfible to ordinary ele6lri- 
 city, he had never tried ; but it was very likely that this was 
 the cafe, particularly as we find an inftance in Musschen- 
 broek's IntroduB, to Nat, PhiL §. 832, No. 3, of three 
 perfons, who were found to be exempt from the opera- 
 tion of eledlricity, though the experiment was made on 
 them more than once. I am befides acquainted with a 
 certain man, who feems to polTefs a great antielecSlric power. 
 From the refult of many experiments made with the tor^ 
 pedo^ and related in the Philofophical Tranfa6lions for the 
 years 1773, 74? 7 5? ^^^^ 7^5 there appears to exift an 
 incontrovertible analogy between ele6lricity and the above- 
 mentioned fifli. 
 
 The cancer norvegicus, a kind of lobfter, is often eaten 
 
 in the Bay. A fort of fnail or cockle, klipkaus (^Haliotis^ 
 
 Linn.) from half a foot to a foot and a half diameter, is 
 
 ufually ftewed, but makes in my opinion a very unfavoury 
 
 difh. The fame may be faid of the fepia loligOy and the 
 
 Jepia oSfopodia, which are made into.foup, and are known 
 
 to our failors by the name of black-JiJIo^ and fea-cats^ and 
 
 to the Englifh by the name of cuttle-jijb. A fmall kind 
 
 of oyfter is like wife found in a particular fpot in the Bay, 
 
 and is kept by the governor for his own table. As to 
 
 mufcles I faw but few of them ; but in 'fable-bay^ below 
 
 the Lion-Mountain, they are found in great abundance, 
 
 and have a delicious tafte. The myxine glutinofa, was not 
 
 eafy to be difcovered among the vermes ; it is like an eel or a 
 
 I fnake
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 27 
 
 fiiake with a flat tail. Its mouth was formed by an ob- ^772. 
 long opening under its nofe, not tranfverfe, but longitu- V•^-^i> 
 dinal in the diredlion of its body, with double and move- 
 able jaws well furniflied with teeth. The bite of it is 
 reported to occaiion a difagreeable tumour, but not to be 
 mortal. 
 
 Among the vegetables that I found in Bay-Faifo, the 
 cunonia capenfis was almofl the largefl tree there, though 
 barely twice or three times the height of a man. It grows 
 near the water, and contains in its peculiar j/?//)<^/. bivah, 
 fagittat, a cream-like matter to appearance, but in fadt a 
 vifcid or gummy fubftance. Various fopbora^ bloomed here 
 towards the fpring, and required a good foil : but on the 
 fopbora capenfiSy there was found in particular a new fort 
 of V if cum in great abundance. The antbolyza atbiopkd 
 grew from three to fix feet in height, with beautiful red 
 flowers, being always found at no great diflance from the 
 fliore, and chiefly in the fliade of other plants. I met 
 with it afterwards in the woods near the Cape, particularly 
 in the Houtniquas, The antbolyza maura -, remarkable 
 for its flowers, half w^hite and half black, I found on one 
 fpot only of the mountain near one of the rivulets, that 
 trickle down juft before the flaughter-houfe. A very 
 fmall trlandrous plant {JIaminibtn monadelpbis) with com- 
 paratively large but beautiful yellow flowers, in the fine 
 part of the day adorned a large plat of ground with its 
 open bloflbms, which however at other times were fo 
 entirely clofed, as almofl: to difappear. The calla atbiopica 
 
 * This compofcs now a new genus, and is called by Dr. Thunberg the wittenia 
 maura. 
 
 E 2 delighted
 
 28 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 *772- deiiehted chiefly in moift places near the fea-lliore, and 
 
 April. o . . p 
 
 "^^J^r^J was in flower the whole winter. Proteas, ericas^ cornujes, 
 gnapbaliumSj gnidiaSy echias^ phyllicaSy bruniaSy 7\nd peri- 
 plocasj two varieties of the myrica cerifera., together with 
 cliffortiaSy theftas^ polygalas^ hennannias and q/Iers, were 
 ftrewed proniifcuouily over the dry places on the declivity of 
 the mountain. Among thefe fome reftios feemed quartered 
 on the bare fand, together with divers mefembryantbemums. 
 T\\Q byobancbe fanguinea^ TLparaftic ]A?iU.ty towards fpring, 
 began to throw out its blood-red tufts of flowers in the 
 naked fand ; an ojleofpermum or two, as well of the 
 arboreous as herbaceous kind, were now and then likewife 
 found in the bare fand. ArSfotides, calendulas^ and 
 othonnasy throve chiefly in fandy places. On the moun- 
 tain befides proteas^ bruniasj diofmas^ ericas^ and the 
 Jlilbe^ we found indigoforas^ erinufes^ felagos^ manuliasy 
 chironlas of different kinds, together w^ith many gynan- 
 drous plants. We likewife found greens and kitchen- 
 garden plants in great plenty at this inaufpicious time of 
 the year. Towards fpring, divers forts of ixias^ gladiolufes^ 
 more as y oxalifes^ mefembryanthemums^ antirrhinums ^ and 
 even various beautiful fmall irifes<i feveral inches high, 
 with the corolla partly white and partly blue, began to 
 pufli out of the ground. 
 
 Of the partly known and partly quite new plants which 
 we met with at this fpot, fome were rather uncommon, 
 others again was not to be found again in the other places 
 I vifited in Africa. Every diftridt has always fomething 
 peculiar to itfelf : no wonder then, if Dr. Thunberg and 
 I fliould have pafled over various fpecimens of the vege- 
 table
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 29 
 
 taWe tribe unnoticed, and the common faying, Semper m^- 
 aliquid novi ex Africa, fliould ftill hold good for many \^i^ 
 years to come. Botanifls, therefore, miift not expecfl in 
 this place a more accurate catalogue of plants, which would 
 be too tedious a bufinefs ; but content themfelves with ac- 
 quiring, e7i pajant, as it were, and at a diftance, by means 
 of the preceding lift, fome idea of the country, juft as it 
 is, covered with the herbs and trees moft commonly found 
 in it on different fpots, and at different times of the year. 
 
 S E C T»
 
 30 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 SECT. IIL 
 
 Refidencc at Alphcn near Conjlantia^ till the An-- 
 thofs Trip to Paarl. 
 
 1772. XT THEN the winter was pall, and the iliips now pre- 
 \^^^^ VV ferred anchoring in ^able-bay ^ I went with the re- 
 fident to an eftate of his called Alphen^ fituate in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Conjiantia, about three miles from it, and 
 nearly half way between 'Table and Simon's-bay, Before 
 we could get over the mountainous part of this road, we 
 obferved a troop of baboons very nimbly clambering up 
 the fteep rocks, and fcouring away as faft as they could to 
 fave themfelves from our hounds, which fet after them 
 in full cry. On the plain before us we faw a large flock 
 of f.ajnmingos {pbcejticopt . ruber) a fpecies of bird of the 
 crane kind (grallse) feeking their food in pools and pud- 
 dles that were beginning to dry up. As they were larger 
 than our cranes, and of a fnow-white colour, with tiieir 
 v/ings of a flaming rofy hue, it is eafy to imagine, what 
 an agreeable appearance they made on the green field, 
 clad in fo beautiful a livery. After this our road was over 
 a fandy plain, a place that, during part of the winter, one 
 is obliged to wade over, as it then lies under water. We 
 
 then
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 51 
 
 then came to a field overgrown with a great many difFe- ^772. 
 rent forts of heath and other fhrubs and buflies, with fome \^^y^ 
 fmall trees of the protea kind. Part of the flowers and 
 Jierbs that were fcattered among thefe fhrubs, I found 
 later than in Falfe-bay ; probably by reafon, that in this 
 latter place they were brought forward partly by the va- 
 pours arifing from the fea, and partly by the fun-beams re- 
 flected upon the mountains. On the other hand, divers 
 ixiasy gladiolufesy moreas, hyacinths^ cypbias^ melanthias^ al- 
 bucas^ oxalifes, afperugos^ geranmms^ monfonias, ar&oiifes^ 
 calendulas^ wacbendorfias^ and the arBopus — fome of them 
 never, fome of them rarely feen in the Bay, were now 
 found every where by the road-flde in their greateft beauty. 
 The pleafure enjoyed by a botanift, who finds all at once 
 fb rich a collection of unknown, rare, and beautiful vernal 
 flowers, in fo unfrequented a part of the world, is ealier 
 to be conceived than defcribed. I was now quite impatient 
 to get to the end of my journey, however agreeable it was 
 otherwife* At length we arrived at the refident's country- 
 feat, and I did not delay a moment to procure myfelf a ftill 
 more delightful recreation, viz. that of walking out to re- 
 connoitre fuch plants as were yet unknown to me. 
 
 The premifes are very well built, and contiguous to 
 them is a pretty extenfive garden, and a confiderable vine- 
 yard, which increafes yearly in lize. But there is hardly 
 an acre of arable land to be found in the whole neigh- 
 bourhood ; nor did the owners of the vineyards here think 
 it worth their while to trouble themfelves about the cul- 
 ture of it, but were then, viz. towards the end of the 
 month of Auguft, bufied in digging about their vine- 
 
 ftocksj-
 
 1772. 
 
 April. 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 {tocks, and planting new. They never deftroy their vine- 
 plants ; that is, they do not let them run up to any height, 
 but cut them down low, and generally furround their 
 vineyards and fruit-trees with hedges, in order to fhelter 
 diem the better from the wind. A fmall fpecies of cur- 
 cuUo in particular, did infinite damage to the vine-buds, 
 and the tender leaves. They were therefore very bufy in 
 clucking this infe6l from the plant as foon as ever it ap-r 
 peared, and as foon as they could poflibly get at it ; the 
 only means yet known of preventing the ravages of this 
 
 creature. 
 
 As fummer was now approaching, the exacum and the 
 ^^ gentiana exacoides began to cover the ground with yellow 
 patches ; and many forts of flirubs of the extenfive genus 
 of afpalathus^ came out by degrees with their yellow blof- 
 foms. But the protea argentea^ or the filver-tree, as it is 
 called, exhibited the whole year throughout its gloffy 
 white, or filver gray leaves. This tree has at firft a very 
 uncommon, and indeed beautiful appearance. I am of 
 opinion, however, that we fliould not chufe to change for it 
 our dehghtful afpen-groves. The filver-tree fcarcely ever 
 grows higher than twenty feet; and if I remember right, I 
 have been informed, that they arrive at this height in twelve 
 to fifteen years. But in a rich foil this tree grows twice as 
 quick, and is the largeft of all the protea kind. One or 
 two of them are found planted near fome of the farms ; but 
 we feldom meet with any that have grown wild of them- 
 felves in thefe parts, though a little grove of them is i^QXi 
 
 * Now the febcea exacoides, 
 
 near
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 33 
 
 near CoriJIantia. For this rcafon it has been fuppofed, that ^"7^?j- 
 the filver-tree ^vas tranfplauted hither from the beginning; \^^y^U 
 yet no one has been able to inform me from what place it 
 firfl came : probably it was brought from the borders of 
 Anamaqua\ fori now travelled over the whole north- eaft fide 
 of Hottentots Holland, without finding it either in its v.ikl 
 ftate or planted. In the mean while, as it is the largeft of 
 all the proteas^ and indeed almofl of all the trees indigrnous 
 at the Cape<i it is remarkable, that together with fome 
 others it has not attradled the attention of government to 
 the planting of it, efpecially as they cannot be ignorant 
 that the confumption of wood fi:ores, as well for the ufe 
 of the fliips as that of the town, dail y increafes fafter than 
 they can be fupplied by their refources. It is chiefly from 
 the level ground near the lliore, that the company at prefent 
 fetches its wood, which confifis chiefly of two fmall and 
 crooked forts of protea. That wood is dear at the Cape, 
 may be concluded, from the circumftance of private perfons 
 rather finding their account in getting it from the mountains 
 by means of Haves; though it takes up one of thefe a whole 
 day to get a moderate load of flirubs and dry branches of 
 trees, the value of which is generally the fourth part of 
 a rixdollar. And indeed it is fo far fortunate for the Dutch. 
 in a place fo bare of wood, that a fire is not vranted in this 
 country, excepting for drefi[ing of victuals, lighting their 
 pipes, and the women's ftoves. 
 
 Alphen^ or the farm where I pafi^ed this fummcr, was 
 on the fouthern fide of Table-Mountain, about a mile and 
 a half from the foot of it. This mountain feems here, 
 as well as at Table-Bay, level at the top, though there it 
 
 Vol. I. F has
 
 34 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 "772- has confidera])le inequalities. In the rainy feafon larsre 
 Lxv^>-> pools of water are louiid upon it, but by no means any 
 lake, as fome pretend. When a cloud covers this range 
 of mountains, and the north- weft wind blows, it fhould 
 feem that this fame wind muft inevitably drive the cloud 
 over the neighbouring plains on the other or fouth Ude of 
 thefe mountains, at the fame time caufing it to rain there ; 
 but on the contrary, the fadt is, that it never does rain 
 there ; a circumftance that, without doubt, like all other 
 natural phenomena, has its real and certain foundations 
 in nature. The moft probable folution that occurs to me 
 is this, that the vapours, which are driven up from the 
 fea by the north-weft wind, gather round the mountain in 
 confequence of their being attradled by it, and there re- 
 main as long as they preferve any degree of rarefadlion ; 
 but when at length they become more and more denfe 
 and prefTed together, fo as neceflarily rather to yield to 
 the greater force of the wind than to the attra6live power 
 of the mountain, they are carried away too quick to fall 
 in rain directly at the foot of the mountain; a circum- 
 ftance that does not happen before they reach the other 
 fide of Zou^ Rivier, 
 
 Having feveral times in my walks been, without any 
 reafon, apprehenfive of being wetted through by the 
 above-mentioned cloud, at length I refolved to afcend the 
 mountain, in order to fee how things wxre fttuated. The 
 weather was at that time fine at the bottom of the moun- 
 tain, and the wind pretty ftdU ; but at the upper edge of 
 the mountain I met with feveral gufts of wind, which pre- 
 cipitated, as it w^ere, cbwn upon me, moift and cold, and 
 
 with
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 35 
 
 with a fenfible violence. The temperature of the air, ^772- 
 '^'ith which I was furrounded for about three quarters of v-^vO 
 an hour, varied according as the weather changed from 
 fine to hazy, and from that to drizzHng or downright rain. 
 The barennefs of the mountain and the coldnefs of its air, 
 together with the fmall number of plants upon it, and 
 thole ftunted by the chmate ; nay, the rainy weather it- 
 felf, all combined to form around me a backward autumn. 
 From this fpot, however, I had an agreeable fummer pro- 
 Ipecfl towards the bottom of the mountain, viz. the ver- 
 dant plains lying round about it, enlightened and waiTned 
 by the genial rays of the fun. At the bottom of this range 
 of hills there feemed to fhoot out many roundifli oblong- 
 ridges, pretty nearly of the fame form, and parallel to 
 each other, and feparated by a like number of dales, at 
 the bottom of feveral of which ran the water previoufly 
 colledted by the mountain, and deftined, as it were, to wa- 
 ter the plains. A number of green trees and flirubs, 
 which had planted themfelves along the fides of thefe 
 rills, formed a beautiful girdle on the declivity of the 
 mountain, and on the hillocks projedling at the foot of 
 it. Several neat compadt farms fcattered up and down, 
 the houfes belonging to which were white with black 
 roofs, at the fame time that the grounds were laid out in 
 a regular and judicious manner with verdant orchards and 
 vineyards, lay diftindlly open to the eye in all their re- 
 fpedive ground-plots, forming a moil natural as well as 
 beautiful pidxire. Next to thefe, a little further on, were 
 feen pale and bleak tra<5ls of heath, among which were 
 ftrewed, as it were, various plots of fand, together with 
 
 F 2, fandy
 
 36 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 IJ^''' fandy roads winding about in a Terpentine form, and wag- 
 <^y\j gons and timber-tugs creeping along them with a fluggilli 
 motion. Thefe exteniive plains were bounded by I'yger- 
 mountain and the fliores of Hottentots Holland. Next to thefe, 
 but farther on, were feen other mountains, which, accord- 
 ing to the diftance at which they were placed, grew more 
 and more indiflindl, till they entirely difappeared in the 
 clouds. From hence too, befides feveral pools of rain- 
 water, a great part of the creek which forms Falfe-bay^ 
 was feen. This, from its calmnefk and diftance, appeared 
 at that jun6lure as fmooth as a looking- glafs ; at the fame 
 time that it was terminated by the ocean, or rather, ac- 
 cording to the appearance it made in my eyes, by the ho- 
 rizon itfelf. 
 
 From the mift, or fog, which furrounded me on the 
 mountain, I perceived at times fpecks of clouds fnatched 
 off by the north- weft wind, and driving along with vio- 
 lence through the air both above and below the fpot I 
 then ftood upon, and dire6lly followed by their fliadows 
 formed upon the fame plains. In a word, this exten- 
 five and delightful fpecSlacle was as enchanting as it was 
 lingular. Being not ufed to run any great rifks, I 
 did not venture fo far out as I would have wiflied, in or- 
 der to examine the top of Table-mountain on this fide ; 
 for, as it grew towards dark, I might have eafily loft my 
 way, and fall a prey to leopards and hyaenas, which 
 frequent thefe parts in great numbers, and at night are 
 very bold and daring. A little while before they had 
 committed ravages in a farm yard juft below the mountain; 
 1 likewife heard their howlings the f.ime evening about 
 
 duik.
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE. 37 
 
 dufk, from the very place where, two hours before, I had J^772. 
 been botanizing. That very day, at broad day-hght, I ^^-w^ 
 narrowly efcaped being plundered by a troop of Haves, that 
 had fome time before run away from their matters, and 
 who were fufpeded at that time to have their haunts about 
 ^able-mountain, A fire that I found there newly extin- 
 guifhed, was probably fome of their reliques. Still, how- 
 ever, the beautiful profpe6t that I have juft been defcribing, 
 would perhaps have kept me longer on the mountain, if I 
 had not begun to feel a kind of ItifFnefs and rheumatic pains 
 in my limbs, owing to my having got into a cold air at 
 the top of the mountain all in a fweat and too lightly clad. 
 This probably would have had ferious confequences, if I 
 had not accidentally wrought myfelf into a moft violent 
 fweat ; the fa6l was, that in my defcent, wifhing to exa- 
 mine fome of the clofeft thickets on the iides of the rills, 
 that trickle down the mountain, I went out of the right 
 path, and got into a very thick over-grown coppice, fo 
 that I could not without the greatefl difficulty extricate 
 myfelf from it. 
 
 Some time before this, or in the beginning of Septem- 
 ber, I rode to town to take leave of Dr. Thunberg, who 
 was going to take a long journey up the country, at the 
 expence of the Dutch Eafl-hidia company. I {laid at his 
 houfe rather late in the evening, which occafioned me in 
 my way home to be caught in the dark and to mifs 
 nriy way. I therefore rode up to a farm-houfe to en- 
 quire for the road, and from the information I got, 
 thought to find my way home; but, it beginning to rain, 
 and the darknefs increaling, I took a bye-road, which led 
 
 me
 
 ^8 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^11'^.' me to an elegant honfe, the property of a private gentle- 
 K,Jr>J man. After I had ftood out the attacks of a number of 
 dogs, there came out a heap of flaves, from lixteen to 
 twenty. Thefe fellows were fo malicious as not to anfwer 
 me, though certainly fome of them underilood me ex- 
 tremely well, and though, after having promifed them 
 fomething to drink, I afked them the way in tolerable 
 good Dutch ; on the contrary, they conferred with each 
 other in broken Portuguefe or Malay, in fuch a manner, 
 as to make me fufpedl, that they had no better will to- 
 wards me, than they have to others of a different nation 
 from themfelves, who are accuflomed to fell them here, 
 after having partly by robbery and open violence, and 
 partly in the way of bargain or purchafe, got them from 
 their native country, and thus eventually brought them 
 to the grievous evils they then fuftained. Had the mailer 
 of the houfe been at this time at home, of which however 
 I much doubt, it would have made very little difference to 
 me, as even in that cafel could not have fpoken with him ; 
 for every body in this country is obliged to bolt the door 
 of his chamber at night, and keep loaded fire-arms by 
 him, for, fear of the revengeful difpofition of his Haves. 
 This being the cafe, it was ftill eafier for them to murder 
 me, and afterwards conceal the deed by burying my body, 
 or drag it into a thicket to be devoured by wild beafls ; I 
 therefore took again to the road, in fearch of a better fate. 
 To this end I gave my horfe the bridle, in hopes that he 
 would hit upon the right road better than myfelf. In confe- 
 quence of this he made fuch ufe of his liberty, as to quit all 
 the beaten tracks, perhaps with a view to find the fhortefl way 
 
 home :
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE. 59 
 
 home : fo that I foon found myfelf in a heavy marfhy ^772- 
 ground, overgrown with bullies, and full of brooks and V.^y>^ 
 rivulets, till at length he made a fudden leap, on which 
 we both tumbled head over heels into a pit, and parted. 
 My horfe's fudden flight gave me reafon to fear, that 
 fome wild beafl being near us was the occalion of it ; for 
 which reafon, not thinking myfelf over and above fecure, 
 I immediately prepared to defend myfelf with a large knife, 
 which I generally carried about me for the purpofe of dig- 
 ging up the roots of plants. The beft flep I could now 
 take, was, like many more foot-palTengers, to make up 
 to fome farm-yard, and run the rilk of being torn to pieces 
 by great dogs, which are let loofe at night for the pur- 
 pofe of keeping off thieves. To pafs the night in 
 the open air, at a time when the weather feemed fet 
 in for rain, was as difagreeable as dangerous. In the mean 
 time I took to walking about, to keep myfelf warm. In 
 the fpace of a few minutes, after I had gone over a little 
 hill, I found myfelf near a farm-houfe. It being dark, I 
 was obliged to confider fome time before I could know it 
 again to be my own houfe. I found my horfe already 
 at the ftable-door, Handing quite ftill and quiet, and was 
 lucky enough into the bargain, to be able to conceal the 
 whole adventure from the family, as the particular footing 
 on which I was at that time required. 
 
 Gonftantia is a diftridl conlifling of two farms^ which 
 produce the well-known wine fb much prized in Europe, 
 and known by the name of Cape, or Conjlaniia-v.'mt. This 
 place is fituated at the diftance of a mile and a half from 
 Alphen^ in a bending formed by, and uearly u-nder the 
 2. ^^^te^
 
 ^Q AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 1772- ridge of hills, which comes from Menifen-^nountain^ and 
 lJyv^ jiift ^^ here it Ibikes off towards Hout-bay. One of thefe 
 farms is called Little Conftantia. Here the white Conftan- 
 tia wine is made. The other produces the red. Accord- 
 ing to M. De La Gail's account, not more than fixty 
 figgars of red, and ninety of the white Conftantia wine are 
 made, each figgar being reckoned at fix hundred French 
 pints, or about one hundred and fifty Swedifh cans; fo 
 that the whole produce amounts to twenty-two thoufand 
 five hundred cans. As the company are ufed to keep one 
 third of this for themfelves, the remainder is always be- 
 fpoke by the Europeans long before it is made. At the 
 Cape this wine is feldom feen at table, partly becaufe it is 
 dear, and partly becaufe it is the produce of the country. 
 The red Conftantia wine fells for about fixty rixdoilars the 
 half awin ; but the white is ufually to be purchafed at a 
 more reafonable rate : otherwife the price of the common 
 white wine at the Cape is from ten to feventy rixdoilars the 
 figgar, according to the year's growth and the demand that 
 is for it. They make befides, in the environs of the Cape, 
 Burgundy^ Madeira^ Mojelle^i Mufcadel wines^ fo called from 
 fome analogy they bear to the European wines of the fame 
 name, as well as from the refpecStive places in Europe 
 whence the vine-ftocks were firft brought. Thefe wines 
 are at a proportionably higher price than the ordinary white. 
 As the Cape wines, in confequence of the great demand 
 from the fhips, have all a quick fale, they are feldom to be 
 found of any age ; otherwife by longer keeping, together 
 with better care, and a lefs liberal ufe of fulphur, they 
 would doubtlefs be equally good with the beft European 
 
 wines.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 41 
 
 wines. The genuine Conftantia wine is undeniably a very ^772- 
 racy and delicate defert wine, and has fomething pecu- V-^rvJ 
 liarly agreeable in the flavour of it. That its fuperiority 
 is not owing to any thing peculiar in the manner of pre- 
 paring it, I am fully convinced ; for then, without doubt, 
 a great deal more of it would be made. But the fad: is, 
 that the genuine wine can only be produced by certain 
 particular foils. The diftridts that lie next to thefe yield 
 merely the common Cape wine, notwithftanding that they 
 have been planted with vine-ftocks taken from this, as 
 well as with fome brought from the banks of the Rhine, 
 ■whence it is fuppofed that the true Conftantia fort origi- 
 nally comes ; nay, even though all the vineyards about 
 Conftantia feem to have the fame foil. We have inflances 
 at the Cape, as well as in Europe, that good grapes fome- 
 times px'oduce a bad wine ; while, on the other hand, 
 bad grapes will yield a good fort of wine : therefore, to- 
 wards making wine of a certain quality, belides finer ma- 
 terials, there mufh be certain conditions and circumflances, 
 which, by a diligent and rational invefligation, might pro- 
 bably be explored to the great benefit of mankind. 
 
 Such as are apprized in what quantities Conftantia wine 
 is confumed in Europe, have perhaps already remarked, 
 that my calculation of the produce of the above-men- 
 tioned wine is too limited. This, however, is by no 
 means the cafe; the overplus being the produce of ava- 
 rice, which, goaded on by the delire of gain, will always hit 
 upon fome method of fatisfying the demands of luxury 
 and fenfuality. The votaries of thefe, accuftomed to be 
 put off with empty founds, do not feldom drink with the 
 
 Vol. I. G higheft
 
 42 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '77?- higheft relifli, an imaginary ConJIantia, with which, how- 
 \^rr>J ever, this liquor has nothing in common befides the mere 
 name. It is therefore advifeable, even at the Cape itfelf, 
 to take care, that whilfl one has a genuine fample given 
 one to tafte, one is not made to pay for a made-up red 
 Conilantia, which otherwife is in general fold for half the 
 price. When a wine of this kind has been (as it ufually 
 is) meliorated by a voyage, and at the fame time chriilen- 
 ed with the pompous name of genuine Conflantia, of which 
 it has indeed in fome meafure the flavour, it eafily fells 
 for fuch in Europe. 
 
 This fummer likewife I viiited Hout-bay, The diredl: 
 road to it goes through a narrow vale, from which the 
 harbour is fupplied with frefli water, by means of a little 
 river or ftream covered with palmites, a kind of acorus 
 with a thick ftem and broad leaves, which grow out from 
 the top, as they do in the palm-tree, a circumftance from 
 which the plant takes its name. Thefe palmites are found 
 in great abundance in moft rivers and ftreams, which they 
 block up more or lels by means of their ftems and roots 
 intertwining with each other. On the other hand, this 
 fame Hout-bay has very little title to the name it bears; 
 as, in dired: contradiction to the fignification of it, there 
 is and feems ever to have been, a great deficiency of tim- 
 ber and brufliwood in that place. Confidered as a har- 
 bour, this bay feemed to me to be extremely narrow, and 
 at the fame time too open to the fouth wind. The an- 
 chorage, however, was good ; at leafl, I was fo informed 
 by two fifliermen I met with there. A heap of fand is 
 driven up by the fea to the fartheit part of ^the bay, and 
 
 3 there
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 43 
 
 there appeared to form a flioal of a confiderable extent, '77^2^- 
 by which means the river above-mentioned is not a httle V«xvs,*/ 
 blocked up. This fand was at that time very loofe at 
 many places, fo that one could not walk upon it with9Ut 
 danger of being drowned in the water that lay under it. 
 In time, perhaps, the apertures will be entirely filled up, fo as 
 to become folid. A nook in a mountain on the w^eft fide of 
 the bottom of the bay is entirely covered with fand, which 
 probably has been carried up from the ftrand by the vio- 
 lence of the wind from the fea. The eaft fide is com- 
 pofed of a fteep mountain, which reaches to the brink of 
 the water, while the weflern fhore is very much covered 
 with large loofe granites. There are, neverthelefs, very 
 good landing-places here for boats. In other refpedts the 
 harbour is inconvenient, as well in refpe6t to the gufts of 
 wind that come from the mountains, as from the want of 
 a convenient watering-place, and a wind to carry the fliips 
 out to fea. 
 
 A farm with plantations of vines lay a few flones throw- 
 higher up in the vale. The owner, a European, was the 
 only one in Africa who had fenfe enough to make ufe of 
 affes ; being of opinion, that as they w^ere more fervice- 
 able in hilly countries as beafts of burden, and at the fame 
 time their food, confifling of flirubs and the coarfer kinds 
 of grafs, was eafier to be procured, they were better adapt- 
 ed to that part of the world than horfes. I had here a 
 hafty glimpfe of a little black quadruped, in fliape ap- 
 proaching neareft to the otter, which ran and hid itfelf in 
 a heap of Itones, 
 
 G 2 The
 
 44 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^'^'^-' The e^me here, and m the country about Conflantia, 
 
 April. •-* ■' 
 
 V•^-^^ coniiiis chiefly of fmall antilopes^ as in Falfe-bay^ viz. of 
 Jleenl^ocks^ the antilope grimmia of Pallas, and of Klip- 
 fpringers^ which, however, I have not had an opportu- 
 nity of examining near; Hkewife of diving goats^ fo called 
 from a peculiar manner they have of leaping and diving, 
 as it were, under the buflies. The method of hunting 
 thefe fmall antilopes is to drive them from their cover 
 among the buflies, which is beft done by hounds ; at 
 Avhich time the fportfman muft take care to be ready with 
 his gun. They are likewife caught with fnares placed at 
 the entrance into vineyards and kitchen-gardens. Thefe 
 fnares are faftened to the top of an elailic branch or bough 
 of a tree, one end of which is made quite faft in the 
 earth, and the other being bent downwards, is attached 
 very flightly to a board, which is laid on the ground, and 
 covered a little with earth. It is farther fo contrived, that 
 when the animal treads on the board, this gives a little 
 fwing, upon which the elaftic bough flies loofe, and draws 
 the fnare over one or two of the animal's legs, at the fame 
 time lifting the creature up along with it into the air, fo 
 that it remains hanging there. Among other animals I 
 faw here ichneumons {viverra ichneumon) and civet cats 
 {viverra genettd) caught in traps near farm-houfes. They 
 were fomething bigger than a common cat, and have a bad 
 name with houfewifes for making great havock among the 
 poultry and eggs ; though, on the other hand, they do a 
 great deal of fervice by deftroying the larger kind of rats. 
 In the more general oeconomy of nature, thefe animals are 
 Itill more ferviceable ; more fo indeed than the people at 
 
 the
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 45 
 
 the Cape are capable of diftinguiiliing, or know how to ^^^7^:^ 
 turn to their advantage. The river Nile and Egypt itfelf V^vO 
 for inftance, would be full of crocodiles^ if their eggs were 
 not in a great meafure deftroyed by the viverra ichneu7non. 
 In the Ealf-Indies this animal is famous for leiTening the 
 number of lizards and venomous ferpents, which too much 
 abound there ; and the fame fervice is undoubtedly done 
 by the viverra fpecies in Africa. Thefe certainly contri- 
 bute alfo to keep the number of moles within certain 
 limits. The ichjieumon is likewife iifed to be made tame 
 in the Eaft-Indies, fo as to follow its mafter as tra6tably as 
 a dog ; and by its means it has been difcovered, that the 
 ophiorhiza is an excellent antidote againft the bite of fer- 
 pents. Probably a difcovery of equal utility might be made 
 at the Cape^ if the ichneumon was made tame there, and 
 thefe animals were purpofely fufFered to be bitten by feve- 
 ral forts of ferpents, and at the fame time it was obferved 
 what antidote they had recourfe to ; for nature, which has 
 given, and indeed impofed on the ichneumon the fame of- 
 fice in Africa as in Afia<) viz. to limit the increafe of the 
 race of ferpents, has in both places furniflied them with 
 equally good weapons, and an equally good prefervative. 
 Experiments of this kind certainly deferve to be made with 
 the viverra ge?ietta^ and fome others of that genus. The 
 folliculus of this latter creature contains a kind of mufk, in 
 all probability not without fome particular intention in its 
 all-wife Creator, nor without fome ufe to the animal itfelf; 
 perhaps, indeed, for that of men, when they fhall be at the 
 pains to make the difcovery. 
 
 It
 
 46 AVOYAGBtothe 
 
 ^772- It would not be amifs to make mention in this place of 
 
 April. c • 
 
 \^y>J a third fpecies of viverra, which is found in thefe parts, 
 though I did not get a fight of it till after my return from 
 the South-Sea ; this was the viverra putorius^ which an ac- 
 quaintance of mine caught on Mr. Dreijer's farm at Ron- 
 deb of c by fituated nearer to the Cape than to Alpbett, This 
 animal is not known to be found any where but here and 
 in North America ; in one word, in the northern parts of 
 the new world, and the fouthernmoft promontory of tlie 
 old, which is diredlly contrary to what M. Buffon fays he 
 is morally certain of. The furell flep this great and maf- 
 terly natural hiftorian could have taken, would have been 
 to have contented himfelf with the contemplation of na- 
 ture, which is never without its ufe, without endeavour- 
 ing to lay down univerfal laws for her; as if no other 
 animal could be common to the old and new world, than 
 thofe which could ealily pafs by land from j4fia to America. 
 
 In one of my excurfions between Alphen and Rondebofch^ 
 near a marfliy place in a dale, I came unawares upon an 
 animal with which I was totally unacquainted ; but not- 
 withftanding it was within 70 or 80 paces of me, 1 could 
 not get a perfe6t view of it, on account of the intervention 
 of the buflies, and the creature's running away immediate- 
 ly. It did not feem however above three feet and a half 
 high, but from its afh-grey colour, and remarkably heavy 
 gait in running, I was induced to think it could be nothing 
 elfe than a young bippopotamus^ or, as it was here called, 
 a SEA-COW. Creatures of this kind are, indeed, never feen 
 in this part of the country ; but they are ufed to wander 
 far, fo that perhaps this had the night before chanced to 
 
 llray
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 '47 
 
 itray from Zeekoe-valley, near Falfe-bay^ a place to which ^^\^ 
 they frequently refort. Were it fo, I am not at all forry ^-^-yO 
 that I did not get a nearer view of a creature otherwife fo 
 very dangerous, as, according to my ufual cuftom, I had 
 no other weapon about me than my knife and infe^l-fcifTars. 
 
 The reader will fcarcely imagine, that the fauiia and 
 flora Capenfis would this fummer leave me any time for the 
 hyp or vapours ; I muft, however, confefs, that fome foli- 
 tary and idle hours, combined with other circumflances, 
 now and then gave room and occalion for envy and dif- 
 guft. The days at the Cape^^ by reafon of the greater vi- 
 cinity of that place to the equator, are fhorter in fummer 
 than with us. Urged by an ardent zeal and inclination for 
 natural hiftory, I could not help repining, that in a place 
 where I had the befl: opportunities for this purpofe, I found 
 my hands tied, in fome meafure, by other bufinefs in the 
 day-time, and in the long evenings was in want of books and 
 many other neceffary helps ; but I more particularly felt 
 the want of friends, and of fociety with fome one, who fet 
 a proper value upon Itudy, particularly on the fludy and 
 inveiligation of nature, of which here follows an inftance. 
 
 A Cape phyfician, who had fludied fome time in Hol- 
 land, paid me a vifit at the villa where I refided, and 
 afked, I do not know upon what occafion, to fee my 
 herbal. I, for my part, was in the highefl degree defirous 
 to give myfelf, as well as him, this pleafure, as I could 
 not but hope to learn the virtues of divers plants in medi- 
 cine. But in thefe hopes I foon found myfelf deceived ; 
 the African ^fculapius knowing fcarcely the names, much 
 lefs the ufe, of any one plant. On this fubjed: the coun- 
 try
 
 48 AVOYAGEroTHE 
 
 ^772. ^y people had already given me fome, though upon the 
 V.^^-0 whole, but little information. Of fome hundred plants 
 that I laid before him pafted in a book, we had fcarcely turn- 
 . ed over the third part, before he began every now and 
 then to gape. I therefore thought it high time to give 
 another turn to the converfation, and ceafed to trouble him 
 any longer with my enquiries. Inflead of that, I endea- 
 voured to roufe him out of his dream, by commimicating 
 to him my thoughts of the virtues of fuch and fuch an 
 herb ; for what diforders fuch a particular plant might be 
 tried with fafety and hopes of fuccefs; and this in confe- 
 quence of its affinity and Umilitude to other plants already 
 known, and whofe virtues had undergone the teft of ex- 
 perience, or (as far as one might conclude from hence) 
 from the place it held among the natural orders., 8cc. My 
 vifitor all this while was neither polite nor intelligent enough 
 to give his affent to what I faid, but continued yawning 
 and gaping. I therefore left above half the plants untouch- 
 ed, and turned the difcourfe to the fubje6l of commerce 
 and fliipping, upon which the converfation immediately 
 became more hvely ; an event, which did not at all fur- 
 prize me ; for this worthy phyfician's income depended 
 more upon merchandize, than upon Apollo and the Mufes ; 
 and it is much the fame cafe with the refi of the faculty 
 at the Cape^ to the great prejudice of the lick in particular, 
 as well as to that of natural knowledge and the art of 
 medicine in general. 
 
 Should this journal ever chance to fall into the hands of 
 the phyfician, who was pleafed to yawn over the colle^ftion 
 4&f ufeful fimples that I had the honour of laying before 
 
 him.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 49 
 
 him, it is to be hoped, he will kindly excufe my having »772- 
 borrowed fo pleafing an original as himfelf, in order to L^vvj 
 give a more lively idea of the great efteem and credit in 
 which botany ftands with the colledlive body of ^fculapius's 
 fons in Africa. I mufl, however, do him the juftice to con- 
 fefs, that he was really, in my opinion, the mofl able of the 
 faculty in that part of the world. I acknowledge with gra- 
 titude all the civilities he afterwards fliewed me ; but he 
 mull not take amifs my not being able to conceal a truth, 
 which difcovers the reafon of the fmall progrefs made by 
 the fciences in Africa, and, perhaps, in fome other parts of 
 the globe : he will likewife pardon the freedom I have 
 taken, in fetting the whole affair forth in its natural co- 
 lours, jufl as it appeared to me ; as in fuch cafe, the reader 
 is enabled to pafs fentence of judgment himfelf, frequently 
 better, perhaps, than could be done by the relator. 
 
 Vol. I. H SECT 
 
 -i »
 
 50 
 
 VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 Apr 
 
 SECT. IV- 
 
 Trip ta Paarl. 
 
 V"m OINCE my defign, as I have already faid, is to give my 
 O readers the defcription of this country and people in 
 the fame order and manner, in which I myfelf became 
 acquainted with them, I have thought proper to infert in 
 this place an account of an excurfion I took to Paarl and 
 its environs, juft as I drew it up immediately on my re- 
 turn home, in a letter to a w^orthy friend and quondam 
 fliip-mate. It is written in the true fea-ftyle, the defcrip- 
 tions and narrative being plentifully interlarded with divers 
 phrafes in common ufe among the gallant fons of Nep- 
 tune. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 With a carcafe quite wearied out, I am juft returned 
 home from a journey on foot over the parched and torrid 
 plains of Africa, after having had occalion to vifit feveral 
 African boors. So they here call a fet of hearty honeft 
 fellows, who, though they do not, indeed, differ in rank 
 from our Swedilh peafants, and make no better figure than 
 the yeomen in our country, are yet for the moft part ex- 
 tremely
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 51 
 
 tremely wealthy. On the 9th of October in this prefent ^^7^^^ 
 year, I fet.out for the Cape^ to fee the burghers perform ^^r^-o 
 their exercife, and hkewife, according to a prexious agree- 
 ment with Mr. O g, a countryman of our's, to take a 
 
 view of the vegetable and animal produdlions of this coun- 
 try. By this you will find, Sir, that I intended to kill two 
 birds with one flone. With regard to the military opera- 
 tions, the brave warriors kept within doors on the loth 
 on account of the high wind, which indeed was fo violent 
 at the bottom of Lion-motmtain^ whither I went out a 
 botanizing, that I was feveral times obliged to lay myfelf 
 down upon the ground. On the nth the whole burgeffy 
 turned out into the field ; the coats, as well of the horfe as 
 of the foot, were, to be fure, all blue, but of fuch dif- 
 ferent lliades, that they might as well have been red, pur- 
 ple and yellow. Their waitlcoats, particularly thofe of the 
 infantry, were brown, blue and white, in fliort all the 
 colours of the rainbow. A French priefl, clothed in black, 
 with red heels to his flioes, ftood near me, and could not 
 help exprefling to me his amazement at feeing fuch a party- 
 coloured equipment. However, this did not hinder them 
 from going through their exercife extremely weD, as a 
 great number of them were Europeans, who had ferved in 
 the lafl war in Germany, and iince that time had been in gar- 
 rifon at the Cape, when, in confequence of having ferved 
 five years, they had become denizens of the country. Am- 
 bitious, therefore, of keeping up their military reputation, 
 and puffed up with pride in confequence of their fuperiority 
 in point of fortune, they took it into their heads feveral years 
 ago to confider it as a very difgraceful circumflance, that 
 
 ' H 2 they
 
 52 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 J 77 2- they fliould be obliged to make front againft the garrifon-, 
 \„,^^^ which, on their lide, felt themfelves fo much hurt by the 
 comparifon, that the attack became very ferious ; fo that 
 among other things they loaded on each lide with coat- 
 buttons, pieces of money, and. the like. Since this acci- 
 dent, both thefe corps are never exercifed at one and the 
 fame time. Being difappointed at not having the company 
 of our countryman, I fet off on my expedition with a Mu- 
 latto for my guide, whom I hired for a quarter of a rix- 
 doUar per diem. Over his flioulder he carried a ftafF, at 
 one end of which hung my apparatus for keeping my 
 herbs, at the other a c&unterpoife compofed of a wallet 
 filled with provilions and a few clothes. This giiide of 
 mine, proud of the name of bajlard^ foon gave me to un- 
 derfland, that he was no flave, as moft of the blacks are, 
 but was free-born by his mother's fide, as her mother was 
 a Hottentot, and her father an European (as he fuppofed) 
 of a tolerable good family. To make Ihort of my flory, 
 I quitted the town, implicitly following my blind defliny 
 and my tawny pilot. We fteered our courfe north-weft, 
 and after a number of traverfes over the plains, by twelve 
 o'clock v,'e had got to the gallows. Hens Viator ! Here we 
 flopped a little to contemplate the uncertainty of human 
 life. Above half a fcore wheels placed round it, prefent- 
 ed us with the mofl honid fubjedls for this purpofe ; the 
 inevitable confequences, and at the fame time the moft 
 flagrant proofs of flavery and tyranny; monflers, that never 
 fail to generate each other, together with crimes and mif^ 
 demeanors of every kind, as fbon as either of them is orA.ce 
 introduced into any country. The gallows itfelf, the largest 
 
 I ever
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 53 
 
 I ever faw, was indeed of itfelf a fufficiently wide door to ^772- 
 eternity ; but was by no means too large for the purpofe v^^v-O 
 of a tyrannical government, that in fo fmall a town as the 
 Cape, could find {even vidtims to be hanged in chains. 
 Farther on, where the fand had been formed into a hard 
 mafs by the rain-water lying upon it, I found a number 
 of cicindelae ikipping about, of an unknown fpecies. At 
 this my companion, who had never before feen an infe6l- 
 hunter, fell a laughing as if he was out of his wits, and 
 feemed all wonder and aftonifhment. 
 
 There is not a bridge to be found in all Africa. We were 
 therefore obliged to w^ade over fome pretty deep brooks and 
 rivers ; fo that herborizing, it muft be owned, is a very 
 troublefome buiinefs here: but then, on the other hand, 
 the harveft is rich. As foon as I had fat myfelf down, I 
 made a curious difcovery of a remarkably prickly 7'urnex 
 (or dock), and likewife of the tribulus terreftris. Now 
 and then we rambled up and down recruiting for my 
 regiment of infecfts, and my colle6lion of plants ; an em- 
 ployment which, in proportion as it enlivened my mind, in- 
 fufed frefli fpirits into my body, and flrength into my limbs'. 
 Thefe latter I had likewife an opportunity of refling on the 
 following occaiion. Among the waggons that overtook us, 
 there was one drawn by fix pair of oxen, after the fafliion 
 of the country. In this a ilave lay afleep, as drunk as 
 David's fow, likewife in a great meafure after the country 
 fafhion. Another however more fober than he, fat at the 
 helm, with a whip, the handle of which w^as three times 
 the length of a man, and the thong in proportion. In 
 this country they never ufe reins to their oxen,, for ^^^hich 
 
 reafoU;^
 
 54 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^Ti'^: reafon, though he flourifhed his whip about from right 
 v^^^-O to left with great dexterity, the beafls not being under 
 much difciphne heaved continually from larboard to liar- 
 board, fometimes acrofs the road, and fometimes along-fide 
 of it ; fo that the driver v^^as not unfrequently obliged to 
 j\imp off from the waggon, in order to imprefs his fenti- 
 ments with the greater energy on the foremoft oxen of 1 
 the team. The waggons are fo large and wide in the car- 
 riage that they cannot eafily overturn, and where the road 
 is worfe than ordinary, the foremofl oxen are ufually 
 led. Up in the waggon fat a Dutchman, who bemg much 
 hurt at feeing me on foot, very courteoufly obliged me, 
 together with my fervant, to get into the waggon and ride. 
 In about the fame latitude we were overtaken by a farmer. 
 We hailed one another, that is, we called to, and faluted 
 each other, as fliips do at fea ; and were informed by him, 
 that he was a Mother-country lad (fo the Europeans are 
 called here), and had a wife and family near the twenty-' 
 four rivers^ at the diftance of forty uurs from thence, 
 in one of the prettied fpots, to his mind, in the 
 whole country. But I now began to reflecSt, that neither 
 TouRNEFORT in the Levant^ nor Linnaeus in the Lap" 
 land mountains, nor any other botaniil, had ever gone out 
 a herborizing in a fix-yoked waggon, and at the fame 
 time that my ftudies and colledtions could be in no wife 
 forwarded by a carriage of this kind; moreover, that al- 
 though by this means my legs might get fome eafe, the 
 other parts of me would fuffer for it in confequence of 
 the jolting of the carriage; therefore taking to my feet 
 again, I went on till I arrived at the company's farm. The 
 
 Iteward
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 55 
 
 fleward (or as they call him there, the l^aas) prefented me ^772: 
 with a glafs of a ftrong-bodied wine, which was by no v^r^^ 
 means adapted to quench my thirft ; but the water here 
 was brackilh, and had a fait tafte, and they had no milk 
 nor covr'S, although there was upon the farm a coniider- 
 able number of horfes and other cattle. The reafon of 
 this was, that in fuch places there is ufually llationed a 
 guard of foldiers, who care more for wine than, milk ; 
 the pafture was likewife greatly in fault, being unfavour- 
 able for milch-cows, and drying up their milk. I there- 
 fore took leave of the ^aasy an appellation given to all the 
 chrilliians here, particularly to bailiffs and farmers. The 
 next farm belonged to a peafant, who was a native of Afri- 
 ca. I now took it into my head for the firft time, to make 
 a trial of this people's fo much boafted hofpitality ; but 
 unluckily the man himfelf was gone to the review at the 
 Cape, and had left only a few flaves at home, under the 
 command of an old Crone, who faid that the bed-clothes 
 were locked up. I could eafily perceive, that fhe had as • 
 little deiire to harbour me, as I had to ftay with her. It 
 was now already dark, but notwithllanding this and my fliiF 
 and wearied legs, I refolved to go on to another farm- 
 houfe, that appeared in fight. We miffed our way in a 
 dale, and wandered among the thickets and buflies. The 
 jackalhy or African foxes, now began their nightly fere- 
 nade, pretty much in the fame notes as our foxes in Eu- 
 rope ; frogs and owls filled up the concert with their hor- 
 ridly plaintive accompaniment. At length we came to a 
 little riling ground, whence we could again difcern the farm, 
 and difcover the right road. A guard of dogs, which in 
 
 Africa
 
 ^6 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »772- Africa are allowed the unlimited privilege of falling foul 
 sJ^Y>^ on fuch foot paiTengers of a night, (the later the more liable 
 to fufpicion,) fet upon us, and frightened us not a little. 
 It was now half an hour paft eight; however, as the 
 people were not yet in bed, they came out to our aflift- 
 ance, fo that we received no other wounds than thofe in- 
 fiidted on the Ikirts of our coats. We v/ere turned into 
 the kitchen, where we heard a piece of news, that found- 
 ed like a thunder-clap to us ; this was, that the l?aas or 
 flevv^ard w^as gone to the review, and that every accommo- 
 dation was locked up. But I felt the prelTure of this dif- 
 ficulty flill more at break of day. In the mean time the 
 flave, with the greatefl good-nature and refpe6l, begged 
 me to be fo kind as to make fliift with a little tea and bread 
 which he had of his own. My fervant, together with 
 this houfe-flave, and another that looked after the cattle, 
 fell on board a loaf of coarfe bread and lard ; to them a 
 moft delicate and favoury difh. After they had deliberated 
 fome time upon the matter in the Portuguefe language, 
 I was put into the abfent baas' ?> own bed-chamber. The 
 bed was tolerable, but the floor was made of loam, the 
 walls bare, and the whole furniture confifted of a cracked 
 tea-canifter, with a few empty bottles, and a couple of 
 chairs. 
 
 As the door would not lock I fet the chairs againft it, 
 fo that in cafe any attempt fliould be made againft my life 
 I might be awakened by the noife. After this I laid myfelf 
 down to fleep, with a drawn knife under my pillow. The 
 many murders that, to my knowledge, were committed in 
 this country, rendered this caution extremely neceflary. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 57 
 
 The next morning I began to afk for my breakfaft, which ^772- 
 confifled of fome ftale fmalty a kind of lard prepared and v^\0 
 kept in a wooden trough, to be ufed by way of butter ; I 
 likewife got hold of a chop of venifon, which they broiled 
 for me, but feafoned it too high with pepper. My hun- 
 ger made me fo civil, as not to fhow any flight to my black 
 hoft's entertainment, but I did not fit long at table. An 
 unexpe6led but very violent quarrel, carried on in the Por- 
 tuguefe language, which I did not underfland, now arofe be- 
 tween the domellic flave and the cow-keeper. Both their 
 black faces looked like coals on fire. At lafl the latter 
 taking out his knife, the other was forced to buy him 
 oflf with a large flice of meat ; upon which light- 
 ing his breakfaft pipe, he went his way, after they had 
 on both fides renewed their friendfliip with looks of the 
 utmoll cordiality. However, for all this feeming recon- 
 ciliation, the houfe-flave took a cruel revenge on his an- 
 tagonift's dog, which happened to flay behind in the 
 kitchen. Yet, notwithftanding his having been guilty of 
 fo mean an adlion, this flave had caught fo much of the 
 generous flame of the African hofpitality, that I could 
 not eafily perfuade him to accept of a trifling acknow- 
 ledgment for his fervices. Soon after break of day I fet 
 out again on my journey, when^ for the firfl time fince 
 my arrival in thefe parts, my eyes were gratified with the 
 fight of extenfive corn-fields, which were now in full ver- 
 dure, with their blades rifing a foot out of the ground ; 
 for in Tyger-mountain diftridl, where I was at this time, the • 
 tillage of corn is the hufbandman's chief employ. Wheat 
 and barley, however, are the only forts of , corn that are 
 Vol. L 1 found
 
 58 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^nv found in the whole colony. The former is ufed only to be 
 \^rr\J bread, the latter merely for the purpofe of foddering 
 horfes ; partly in this way, that the green corn is cut down 
 in the blade once or oftener according as the growth of it 
 will admit, and partly by grinding it into groats, and then 
 mixing it with the cut ftraw for their horfes as foon as it 
 comes to its full growth, as is pra6tifed with us. About ten 
 o'clock I took fhelter from the rain in a farm-houfe, where 
 I found the female flaves linging pfalms, while they were 
 at their needle-work. Their matter, being pofTefled with 
 a zeal for religion quite unufual in this country, had pre- 
 vailed with them to adopt this godly cuftom ; but with that 
 fpirit of oeconomy which univerfally prevails among thefe 
 colonifts, he had not permitted them to be initiated into the 
 community of chriflians by baptifm ; lince by that means, ac- 
 cording to the laws of the land, they would have obtained their 
 freedom, and he would have loft them from his fervice. This 
 very godly boor was born at Berlin, and had been mate of 
 a fhip in the Eaft-Indies. This occalioned us to enter into 
 a converfation on the vi6tories of his much-loved monarchy- 
 and in the fpace of an hour after that, upon every fubjedt 
 that could be imagined. My throat ftill felt as if it was 
 burnt up with pepper, and my ftomach was tormented 
 with hunger. The former was aiTuaged by a couple of 
 glafles of wine, but being afhamed to complain of the 
 latter, I left it to its fate to wait till noon (when perhaps 
 I might chance to get an invitation from fome good foul,) 
 and returned to my botanical calling and occupation among 
 the Ihrubs and bufhes, with which this country is almofl 
 entirely covered, excepting fuch fpots as are cultivated. 
 4 Hardly 
 
 J
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 59 
 
 Hardly a flick of wood, indeed fcarcely any wild tree, is to '772- 
 be fecn here. The foil hereabouts, viz. round about v,^\^%^ 
 T'yger-berg and Koe^berg, is^ to all appearance, moftly a dry 
 barren fand or gravel ; yet, in this diltridl, fo full of hil- 
 locks, there are certain dales covered with mould, and 
 yielding a plentiful harveft to a few peafants, who apply 
 to the culture of lemon, orange, and pomegranate-trees. 
 At three in the afternoon I arrived at the houfe of farmer 
 Van der Spoeij who was a widower, and an African born, 
 and likewife brother to the perfon, who, you know, is 
 proprietor of the red or old Conjiantia, Without feeming 
 to take the leaft notice, he flood flock-flill in the houfe- 
 pafTage waiting for my coming up, and then did not ftir a 
 fingle flep to meet me, but taking me by the hand, 
 greeted me with Good day ! welcome ! how are you f who 
 are you ? n glafs of wine f a pipe of tobacco f will you eat 
 any thing f I anfwered his queflions in the fame order as 
 he put them, and at the fame time accepted of the offer he 
 made at the clofe of them. His daughter, a clever well- 
 behaved girl about twelve or fourteen years of age, fet on 
 the table a fine breafl of lamb, with ftewed carrots for 
 fauce; and after dinner offered me tea with fo good a 
 grace, that I hardly knew which to prefer, my entertain- 
 ment or my fair attendant. Difcretion and goodnefs of 
 heart might be plainly read in the countenance and de- 
 meanour of both father and child. I feveral times ad- 
 dreffed myfelf to my hofl, in order to break in upon his 
 filence. His anfwers were fliort and difcreet ; but upon 
 the whole, he never began the converfation himfelf, any 
 farther than to afk me to flay with them that night : how- 
 
 I 2 ever.
 
 6o AVOYAGE tOthe 
 
 1772- ever, I took leave of him, not \vithout being; much af- 
 
 •April. . 
 
 v^xvO fedted with a benevolence as uncommon to be met with, 
 as undeferved on my part. In my great zeal for botany, 
 I did not pay the leaft attention to my ItifF and wearied 
 legs, but hobbled as well as I could over the dry and tor- 
 rid hills, moving all the day long as if I was upon ftilts. 
 Towards evening I felt myfelf lefs weary, as, by a conti- 
 nviation of the motion of walking and jumping, my limbs 
 vrtre grown more pliable. Not far from the farm we had 
 a brook to crofs, where we met with a female Have, who 
 very officioully and obligingly fhewed us the fhallowefl 
 places. She feemed to lay her account in receiving fome 
 amorous kind of acknowledgment, in which fhe could not 
 be otherwife than difappointed, as fhe had the misfortune 
 to meet with a delicate as well as a weary philofopher. In 
 the evening I arrived in good time at a farm, where the 
 father and mother were from home ; but Majler John and 
 Mifs Sufey gave me houfe-room notwithftanding. It was a 
 handfome building, and, like all the reft on the road, com- 
 pofed partly of brick, and partly of well-wrought clay, 
 ' but without any other floor than the bare earth. I had 
 intended to go on farther, but when I faw a large churn 
 on the floor, and heard from Sufey's own mouth, that 
 they had thirty milch-cows, you may imagine that I did not 
 think of going, efj^ecially as I had feldom found milk 
 very plentiful fince my arrival in Africa. The farm was 
 faid to yield about three thoufand two hundred bufhels of 
 corn yearly, which was from ten to fifteen times the quan- 
 tity that was fown. A good wheaten loaf, light and 
 well-baked, and about two feet in diameter, was fet upon 
 
 tlie-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 6i 
 
 the table, and of this, with fome milk and frelli butter, ^772. 
 I made an excellent meal. They feemed to take a great V^y-^ 
 pleafure in entertaining me, and (though they flrove to 
 conceal their laughter) appeared highly entertained in their 
 turn with my broken Dutch, and my apparatus for catch- 
 ing and preferving infedts. My colledtion of herbs they 
 liked very well, as they themfelves prepared a kind of 
 plaifter with herbs and wax. The next morning they 
 brought me coffee, which I left untouched, it being full 
 of grouts, and, according to the cuftom of the country, 
 as weak as fmall beer. However, I fet out again on my 
 journey, quite lively and brifk after the high treat I had 
 had of milk. As my box of infedts was already quite 
 full, I was obliged to put a whole regiment of flies and 
 other infedls round the brim of my hat. On the road we 
 pafled a cow-keeper, who was roafting a fmall tortoife, 
 the flefh of which tafted like that of a chicken. Two or 
 three miles farther on we met with a fhepherd, that was 
 regaling himfelf with roaft lamb at his mafter's expence. 
 My companion, who knew the full value of his liberty, ex- 
 prefled great fatisfa6lion at finding, that poor flaves had 
 fometimes an opportunity of revenging themfelves on their 
 tyrants by a breach of truft. He informed me, that it 
 was common for fliepherds, who had rigid and niggardly 
 mailers, when a ewe had twins, to keep always one of 
 them for themfelves, and very often the other too, when- 
 ever they had an opportunity of concealing the theft. At 
 three o'clock we came to another farm. Here I had fome 
 converfation with the old lady of the houfe about her gout, 
 which Ihe had in hev hands and feet, and at the fame time 
 
 con-
 
 5^ AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 * 77.2- concerning her good man's rheumatifm, which in order to get 
 L^Y^ rid of by fweating, he was gone on a journey to the warm 
 baths. A houfe plaiftered up in a llovenly manner with 
 clay, a heap of dirty fcabby children, a female Have drag- 
 ging after her a heavy iron chain faitened to one of her 
 legs, the features of the old woman herfelf, her peaked 
 nofe, her perpetually fcolding her fervants, and laflly, her 
 entertaining me with nothing but cold water, plainly indi- 
 cated that poverty dwelt in her houfe, and at the fame 
 time that the gout had in her choleric temperament a very 
 fertile foil to grow in. She advifed me to fet myfelf down 
 in the Faarl (a tra6l of ground a little way from thence 
 planted with vines, and inhabited by vine-dreffers,) in or- 
 der to make my fortune by turning quack. She inform- 
 ed me, that there had been a phylician there before, who 
 had had no pradlice, as his price was too high. She faid, 
 that Ihe never could, nor ever fliould be perfuaded to be 
 bled, or to take any kind of phyfic; neverthelefs, fhe 
 thought it very comfortable for a perfon to have accefs to 
 a phyfician in cafe of ficknefs. You fee. Sir, that an 
 African cottage will afford you a view of mankind, limi- 
 lar to what you may have had in the palaces of Europe, 
 where (it muft be owned) they call in phylicians to their 
 afliftance, but feldom fail to manage themfelves in a great 
 meafure according to their own caprice. In purfuance of 
 the information I got I took the road to the right, w^hich, 
 I was told, would carry me to the houfe of a rich and in- 
 firm widow of fifty-two years of age. My fervant, who 
 was acquainted there, warned me not to frighten the good 
 woman into fits with my infedls fluck on the brim of my 
 
 hat ;
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 63 
 
 hat; for which reafon, having arrived there about five J^t^zj. 
 o'clock, and been well received by her, I took care to turn s^^rO 
 the crown of my hat away from her, and afterwards hid 
 my hat in a corner of the room. Immediately my mouth 
 was crammed with bread, butter, and cheefe, wine and 
 tea, and at the fame time was employed in giving dilTer- 
 tations on the gout, apoplexy, violent bleedings at the 
 nofe, coughs, and her poor deceafed hufband's dropfy. 
 The good lady was attentive to hear, and I to eat, as much 
 as ever my ledlures would permit me. During thefe, a 
 tell-tale hufTey of a female flave, who was a favourite with 
 her miftrefs, had been pumping my fervant in the kit- 
 chen, on which fhe whifpered her miftrefs in the ear, 
 that my hat was full of little beafts (k/eme bejijes,) The 
 old lady immediately quitted the fine inftru6lions that I 
 was about giving her with refpedl to diet, in order to go 
 and look at the ftrange and wonderful fight that was to be 
 feen on my hat. But what aitoniflied her the moft in this 
 affair was, to fee the little animals run through the body 
 with pins, and fattened to the brim of my hat. An ex- 
 planation was required on the fpot. It was now necelTary 
 for me to ceafe eating a while, for fear of being choaked 
 with fome of the big words and long Dutch phrafes, which I 
 was obliged to coin on the fpot, in order to convince her of 
 the great utility of underftanding thefe little animals for 
 medical and ceconomical purpofes, and at the fame time to 
 the glory of the great Creator. Fortunately for me I defcant- 
 ed on this fubjedl with great fuccefs, though not without 
 fome inquiefade ; for, in cafe I had not fucceeded, I fliould 
 certainly have been turned out of doors for a conjuror {hex- 
 
 fueefler .')
 
 64 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 '772- mee/ier :) but now, on the contrary, the good woman 
 K,yY\j begged me to Itay, and I promifed myfelf a good night's 
 reft in fuch an elegant and well-furniflied houfe. Soon 
 after there came a hght cart, with company. This con- 
 iifted, firft, of her daughter ; fecondly, of a very ftout fat 
 country 'fquire or yeoman, Mr. M •■'- '••, who was faid to 
 be able to give each of his daughters four thoufand gui- 
 neas on their marriage, one of whom had, by fome acci- 
 dent or other, already lain in of a black child, the father 
 of which, as a reward for his kindnefs, had been advanced 
 from the condition of Have to that of prifoner for life in 
 one of the Robben illes, and the lady herfelf to that of 
 v/ife to her father's bailiff; thirdly, the 'fquire's half bro- 
 ther, flill more corpulent than himfelf. The father of 
 thefe gentlemen was a native of Livonia^ and had been a 
 foldier in the Swedifli fervice. They had feen an infedl- 
 hunter before, but when they looked into my coUecSlion of 
 herbs, and found it to contain not only flowers, but like- 
 wife grafs and fmall branches of fhrubs and trees, they 
 could not forbear laughing at a light fo unexpe6led. The 
 young lady got from me all the intelligence I could give 
 her on the fubje6l of pimples and freckles, and, by way 
 of reimburfmg myfelf, I aiked her feveral queftions con- 
 cerning domeftic remedies and the warm bath, which flie 
 had lately ufed for three wxeks. She likewife, together 
 with her mother, advifed me to pradtife phylic in Paarl ; 
 but it is a great pity, they added, that a man who feems 
 to under ft and ovir diforders fo well, fliould fpeak our lan- 
 guage fo ill. 
 
 There
 
 CAPEoF GOOD HOPE. 65 
 
 There was no milk to be had here, but the wa»t of it r^',' 
 
 . J April. 
 
 was amply iupplied by a very good and well-drefled lup- v«^-^ 
 per. The wine went round in bumpers to each others 
 healths, and to the continuance of our friendfliip and ac- 
 quaintance. The converfation turned upon various fub- 
 je6ls, and among others, thofe of corpulency, and the cuftom 
 of fleeping after dinner ; and the efficient caufe of thefe, 
 yiz. the Livonian gentlemen's ufe of the warm, bath in 
 this climate, was difcufled with great precifion. We wifli- 
 ed one another a good night ; but I myfelf refled very ill ; 
 for the unufually purfy batchelor, who fell to my fliare, 
 fnored continually, and proved very troublefome. He look- 
 ed indeed very good-humoured, as v/ell as his lively and 
 plaiftrige broeder^ but was not able to fay much ; and when 
 he did fpeak, he wheezed fo much, as to be for the moll 
 part unintelligible to me. He puffed and bio wed more in 
 putting on his Ihoes and llockings, than I did when I laft 
 went up Table-mountain. The next morning I bid thefe 
 good people adieu, and took the road leading to Mountain^ 
 river in PaarL The ferry lay a good deal out of my way, 
 who had no particular buiinefs to tranfadt on the other 
 lide ; fo that having obferved an uncultivated iflet, three 
 or four fathoms diflant from the bank, where the flieep 
 and goats could not get to foreflall me in the blooming- 
 produce of the foil, I ventured over on fome bundles of 
 the palmites, I fpoke of above, {acorus palmita) which were 
 fo fmooth and brittle, that, if I had chanced to make the 
 leaft flip, I muft have been inevitably drowned by getting 
 between them, or elfe under them. My hat and queue ex- 
 cepted, I went a botanizing on this ifland in the fame drefs 
 Vol. I. K as
 
 66 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '772. as Adam wore in his ftate of innocence. My fkin quite 
 K,^^y^U parched up by the fun, ferved, however, to convince me, 
 that I had loft in my little paradife the dominion over the 
 gnats and horfe-flies. Thefe diminutive animals foon 
 obliged me to turn back and put on my clothes, when I 
 afterwards botanized along the courfe of the river, and fo 
 pafling through feveral farms, I arrived at Paarl at a mil- 
 ler's, who was fitting and taking his afternoon's nap. A 
 more ferious and even feemingly furly chap, I never faw 
 in my life. He fet before me an old crazy chair, and with- 
 out afking who I was, faid dire6lly, JVbat will you chufe to 
 have f {Wat zal ye bruiken .^) I fee, replied I, you have 
 got fome tea, be fo kind as to give me fome bread to it, for 
 I am both hungry and thirfty ; I have fpent the whole day in 
 culling of fimples. JVbat, have yoii eat nothing to-day ^ Girl^ 
 bring fome meat-^ bread, and a bottle of wine ! fays the crofs- 
 grained old fellow. Accordingly I ate my belly full, and 
 afterwards drank to his health ; during the whole of which 
 time he was fmoking his pipe in filence, and poring over an 
 aftrological almanack of the laft century. During all which 
 time, he did not once addrefs himfelf to me; and to a queftion 
 or two I afked him, he anfwered me fo fliort, that I ima- 
 gined he was extremely difpleafed with my vifit, and there- 
 fore could not help preffing him to accept of a pecuniary 
 recompence for my entertainment. He anfwered me po- 
 fitively with a moft inflexible air. No ; that I certainly will 
 noty it is our duty to qffiji travellers. For my fervant, 
 without my knowledge, had ordered a good luncheon of 
 bread and meat, but did not follow me half way over his 
 ilippery loam-floor when I took my leave of him. Afle61ed 
 6 with
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE. 67 
 
 with an internal fenfe of gratitude, I wilhed within myfelf, ^77^^- 
 that heaven might pardon fo worthy a miller, in cafe he V,^^^' 
 iliould at any time chance to trefpafs oa his neighbour's 
 corn, 
 
 A little farther on lived a Kojler^ that is, a Sexton, a 
 fet of people that are more refpecbed by the Galvinifts than, 
 with us. He was of black extraction by the mother's lide. 
 I went in, fat myfelf down, and drank a difh of miferable 
 tea without fugar. The Kofter's wife, who was rather in 
 years, was then lick in bed. I enquired into the nature 
 of the diforder : but when I was told that the patient, not- 
 withftanding the ufe of the warm bath for three weeks, 
 remained as it wxre contracted in all her Hmbs, and her 
 joints quite filled up with chalk- ftones, I did not chufe to 
 fay any thing more, than that the gout was a terrible afHic- 
 tion, flirugged up my fhoulders, and inquired for the 
 right road. Juft before the door grew^ the Cataputia, 
 I alked the man if he made any ufe of the feeds, or 
 whether I might gather any of it ? He anfwered, he did 
 not ufe them himfelf, but in general gave them to his 
 friends : Gather what you will^ continued he, / neve?' heard 
 any body afk after them before^ what do you want them for? 
 For medical pur pofes^) replied I. I now had brought an old 
 houfe over my head, and was obliged to go in again, and 
 hear the account of the old woman's illnefs, as well as explain 
 the caufe of iti However, I thought it neceflury to inform 
 her, with very little circumlocution, that her flay in this 
 calamitous world was likely to be of very fhort duration. 
 She was glad to be freed from her mifery, and her hufband 
 to get rid of a fickly wife ; on which account they both of 
 
 K 2 them
 
 April. 
 
 53 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 "^11 '^' them feemed to hear my fatal prognollic with pleafiire, and 
 made me drink a couple of gialTes of wine for my pains ; 
 and at the fame time offered to fliew me the church, which 
 ftood juft by. By this edifice I could plainly perceive, that 
 thefe boors beflowed no more pains upon God's houfe, than 
 they did upon their own. This church was, indeed, as big 
 as one of our largefl fized hay-barns, and neatly covered, 
 as the other houfes are, with dark-coloured reeds ; but with- 
 out any arching or ceiling, fo that the tranfoms and beams 
 withinfide made a miferable appearance. Altars and altar- 
 tables are, I believe, never ufed in the reformed church. 
 There were benches on the lides for the men, but the 
 women have each of them their chair or ftool in the aifle. 
 The pulpit was too plain and flovenly. 
 
 From hence I fet off for home by a bye-way, as little 
 known to my guide as to myfelf. Eighteen China oranges, 
 which I had bought in Paarl for one fkelling Dutch, 
 proved extremely ferviceable to me at this time ; and a 
 large roll of tobacco which my fervant had taken with him, 
 was a flill more defirable vade rnecum for him» He carried 
 really a heavy load, which however appeared to be very little 
 burden to him. On the other hand however, it muft be coa- 
 fidered, that he went on always in a flrait line, while I con- 
 tinually ran from one fide to the other, peeping among the 
 bufhes. It was already dark when we arrived at a farm- 
 houfe, where the boor himfelf was not at home. During 
 his abfence, I drew his wife into a converfation concerning 
 houfnold affairs, and found (what I much v/ondered at in 
 fo fubftantial a houfe) that they had feklom any great 
 plenty of milk ; and this on account of the dry barren hilh 
 
 neai:
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE. 69 
 
 near them, and other caufes not worth mentioning here ; ^772. 
 h,ut that on the other hand, they had a good llock of ^^•^r^ 
 Iheep, fome arable land, and vineyards, which, by means 
 •of water-conduits, might be rendered fertile. She was a 
 generous and good kind of woman as one would wifli to 
 fee, but unluckily happened to offer me jull every thing 
 that I did not wiili for, wine, brandy, and tobacco. Her 
 hufband, a very brifk lively old fellow, being at laft come 
 home, immediately drank to me, faying. Perhaps youjup- 
 pofe that nobody knows any thing hut yourfelf^ with your 
 herbs and you ^ but you Jloall fee that zve African peafants are 
 7iot all fo fupid as you think for. Upon this, by way of 
 furprifing me, he difplayed a few good books, and a heap 
 of trafli, on almolt every fcience ; all of which I could do 
 no other than commend, as he did nothing but run be- 
 tween me and his book-cafe, and read over the whole title- 
 page of every book, the printer's and bookfeller's name not 
 excepted. Tou fee^ fays he, that I do not fpend my whole time 
 in following the plough. We almoft called one another Coulin- 
 Germans, he being a Livonian and I a Swede. At night 
 there was no danger of ftarving for want of vi6luals. l^ou 
 muf eat hearty with its farmers, faid the kind-hearted dame. 
 Eat and fp are not : we do not grudge it you. They had their 
 butter and cheefe, together with hung-beef, or rather buf- 
 falo-flefli, from their grazing farms, almoft fix hundred miles 
 lip the country. By the appearance of the foup and green- 
 peas I could plainly perceive, that my learned hoft had not 
 ftudied any books of cookery, which in Africa would have 
 been of much more ufe to him than poetry and the dead 
 languages. The good woman of the houfe was obliged to
 
 70 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '^772. a-Q to bed alone, while her hufband employed himfelf with 
 CJr\j the hiftory of Josephus, in order to convince me of his great 
 attachment to fludy. Accordingly many people in this coun- 
 try call their flaves, fome after the months, and others after 
 the days of the week in which they were born. Early in the 
 morning I was waked here by the horrid fhrieks and cries 
 of January and February^ who were undergoing the dif- 
 cipline of their mafter's lafh, becaufe the horfes had not 
 been found the preceding evening. Soon after the fa- 
 mily got ready for going to church, but \^^ere prevented 
 by a fliower of rain. In the mean time we ate our break- 
 fafts, and drank to each others health ; upon which I re- 
 turned them thanks and took leave of them, with a lun- 
 cheon of bread and butter doubled together, and ftulFed 
 into my coat- pocket by my hofl and hoftefs, by way of 
 {weegkojl) or proviiion for my journey. I was fecretly 
 much affedled at receiving fuch tokens of good-will, quite 
 undeferved on my part, from the hands of people to whom 
 I was an entire flranger. 
 
 The woman was goodnefs itfelf, but this goodnefs was 
 enflirined in a mighty phlegmatic body. The old fellow's 
 phrafeology, as well as his library, difcovered, that he 
 wsa, as well as myfelf, a run-away fludent. I likewife 
 afterwards came to know, that he had been a furgeon, 
 and had been fent thither as a foldier by kidnappers ; and 
 at the fame time I learned, that he had got the greater 
 part of his books by marriage with a parfon's daughter, 
 his prefent wife. This good woman could not have chofen, 
 to counteract her phlegm, a more choleric piece of goods for 
 a hulband, who, in fpite of a naturally good difpofition, 
 
 was
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 71 
 
 was faid, for trifling faults, to have beat feveral of his »77^- 
 flaves to death. I could give you, Sir, many inflances, that ^^ 
 the exercife of any crime whatfoever, particularly fuch as 
 the Have trade, or the trafficking with the liberties of man- 
 kind, never fails to plunge men into diforders and mif- 
 demeanours of various kinds. 
 
 On the lands belonging to this farm flands the Tower 
 of Babel, fo they call a hill, which is mentioned by this 
 name by Kolbe, as being of a remarkable lize, and 
 which will ever remain a flanding monument of this au- 
 thor's inaccuracy. I pafs over my little adventures with 
 ferpents, fcorpions, came/eons, and other animals of the 
 lizard kind, well knowing, that you are not endued with 
 tafte enough to take pleafure in, and be fenfible of, the 
 beauties of thefe reptiles, a race of animals with which 
 this Canaan of Africa abounds. But I muft not omit to 
 tell you, how puzzled and undetermined we frequently 
 were on our return homewards, particularly once on a 
 large plain. Almoll at the end of it we met with feven 
 of the company's fcrvants or foldiers, but by no means to 
 our advantage ; for thefe my fellow-chriflians, intoxicated 
 with the wine which they carried about them in leathern 
 bottles or calabaiTes, were at variance among themlelves, 
 and feemingly did not wifli to give us any information, as 
 every one of them pointed out to us an almoft entirely dif- 
 ferent way. Jabbering to me all at once in High Dutch, Low 
 Dutch, Hanoverian, Sec. they all endeavoured to make mc 
 believe, that I fhould meet with rivers, mountains, de- 
 ferts, and the like, if, according to their fea dialecfl, I did not 
 fteer my 'COiir'fe right. Another aiked me whither I was 
 i bound ?
 
 -72 A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 ^772- bound? and then told me how I fliould lay my tacks to 
 L^-vxJ ftarboard and larboard. I thanked them, and got away 
 from them as well as I could ; on which they formed a 
 ring round my fervant, and chattered to him about the 
 road till his head was quite turned. At length they got 
 into a difpute themfelves about the fame fubje6t, by which 
 means wo both got loofe from them. What was now to 
 be done ? Being without chart or compafs, I endeavoured 
 to diredl my courfe by the fun, till I overtook a black hea- 
 then, who was tending flieep; and in confequence of 
 whofe fober and fenfible diredlions, I arrived in the even- 
 ing at a farm-houfe, the bailiff of v/hich, a Hanoverian, 
 welcomed me in the moft friendly manner, with a hearty 
 flap of the hand, in the African Ityle. He entertained me 
 with milk, and an account of the love affairs and intrigues he 
 had when he was a foldier in England. He alfo gave me a 
 lift (which, by his defire, I took down in my pocket-book, 
 as the refult of his own experience) of the conflant or- 
 der of precedence in love, which ought to be obferved 
 among the fair fex in Africa : this was as follows. Firft the 
 Madagajcar women, who are the blackefl and handfomell ; 
 next to thefe the Malabars^ then the Bugunefe or Malays.^ 
 ' after thefe the Hottentots, and laft and worft of all, the 
 white Dutch women. The exceflively nice ftewed cab- 
 bage we had for fupper, he fuppofed to be the befl in the 
 world ; and at the fame time, that its crifpnefs proceeded 
 from the foil being highly impregnated with falt-petre. In 
 fa6V, the land here was fandy and low, and probably contain- 
 ed much fea-falt. Being but two chriftians among twelve or 
 fourteen men Haves, we bolted the door faftj and had five 
 
 loaded
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 73 
 
 loaded pieces hung over our bed. During the whole even- ^77.2- 
 ing I had feen the flaves in fuch good humour, and fo w^-y^ 
 kindly and familiarly treated, that (with regard to their 
 temporal matters at leaft) they really feemed to be better 
 off than many fervants in Europe ; I therefore obferved 
 to my hofl, that his mildnefs and kindnefs was the beft 
 pledge for their good behaviour, and the furefl preferva- 
 tive againfl their attacks. It may be fo, replied he, but 
 befides that, feveral runaway and rebel flaves are continual- 
 ly wandering about, in order to plunder houfes of vi6tuals 
 and fire-arms, or elfe to draw others over to their party ; 
 we have likewife inftances of the blacks becoming furious 
 at night, and committing murder, more particularly on 
 the perfons of their matters ; but fometimes, if they can- 
 not get at them, on fome of their comrades, or elfe upon 
 themfelves. I am here in the place of a mafter to them, 
 and am obliged to punifli them whenever they behave ill 
 to me or to each other. The Bugunefe in particular are 
 revengeful, and nice about the adminift ration of juftice. 
 In order to avoid jealoufy, quarrels, and murder, my maf- 
 ter does not permit any female flaves to be kept here ; but 
 I could wifli it were other wife, as well as in other places, 
 where I formerly was a fervant. Now they are lonefome 
 and folitary^ and confequently flow and fluggifli enough. 
 The chief of my matter's income from this farm arifes 
 from the breeding of horfes. Could he keep female flaves . 
 here, he would get ttill more by the propagation of the 
 human fpecies ; and indeed, a female flave who is prolific, 
 is always fold for three times as much as one that is 
 barren. 
 
 Vol. I. L From
 
 74 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '77?. From the information that I have juft given you, you 
 
 v»^vO' will perhaps, my good friend, be apt to think with me, 
 that even the molt fupportable kind of tyranny always 
 brings with it its own punifhment, in troubled fleep and 
 an uneafy confcience. Slaves, even under the mildeft 
 tyrant, are bereaved of the rights of nature. The me- 
 lancholy remembrance of fo painful a lofs, is moft apt to 
 arife during the lilence of the night, when it ceafes to be 
 diflipated by the buftle of the day. What wonder then, 
 if thofe who commit outrages on their liberties, Ihould 
 fometimes be forced to lign and feal with their blood the 
 violated rights of mankind ? Ought not my hoft, gentle as 
 he w^as, to fear the effe6ts of defpair on twelve ftout fel- 
 lows forcibly taken from their native country, their kin- 
 dred, and their freedom ? Is it not likewife to be dreaded, 
 that thus fliut out from the commerce of the fair fex, 
 which fweetens life, and renders its cares fupportable, their 
 inclinations, which are extremely warm, fliould trefpafs 
 againfl manhood ? — In the courfe of our converfation on 
 rural oeconomy I took notice, that a flave born in the coun- 
 try (efpecially a bajlard) who can drive a waggon fafe and 
 well, and who can be trufted to infpe6t the other flaves, 
 or is looked upon as a clever and faithful fervant, bears 
 the price of five hundred rixdollars. One that is newly 
 brought from Madagafcar, or is in other refpe6ls not fo 
 Ikilful nor fo much to be depended upon, cofts from an 
 hundred to an hundred and fifty rixdollars. A horfe that 
 in Sweden would fetch ten rixdollars, cofts at the Cape 
 from thirty to forty ; a draught ox from eight to ten ; but 
 a tolerable good milch-cow from twelve to fourteen ; one 
 I ditto
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 75 
 
 ditto brought from the mother country or any part of Eu- ^772- 
 rope, and of a fort that produces a great quantity of milk, ^^vsJ 
 fells for forty or fifty rixdollars, and the purchafer thinks 
 himfelf favoured into the bargain ; all which has lince 
 been confirmed to me by feveral others. 
 
 On Monday morning I took leave, and afked the road 
 towards home, when I was anfwered, " There is no road this 
 way. You mufl leave the road that goes to the Cape to the 
 right, and then go flrait forward through the bufhes, 
 when you will come within light of the mountain that 
 ilretches itfelf between Conftantia and the Cape; then go 
 flrait forward over the dry barren plains, to the nook in 
 the mountain ; you may remember it lies very near Con- 
 ftantia and your houfe. You will find no more farms in your 
 w^ay home." Well ! thought I to myfelf, this looks as if I 
 fliould dine upon grafs to-day; I was vexed at having had no 
 breaflfaft, and was too bafliful to give a hint of it to my hoft, 
 who the day before had received me with fuch hofpitality. 
 We had not long been in fight of the mountain, before we 
 faw a cloud arife from it, which did not turn to rain till it 
 arrived at the plain w^e were in. This fhower, which was 
 pretty hea\7', fubjedled me to the greatefl inconveniencies, 
 having expofed myfelf to be wet through, in order to fhel- 
 ter my herbal. But of fuch a nature is this climate, that 
 in a few minutes, as foon as the fun fhone out again, I 
 was quite dry. In the evening, when I came to Alphen^ I 
 learned, that it had not rained there in the leafl, but the 
 cloud covered the mountain in its ufual way. 
 
 I muft not omit to tell you, that on the road I feveral 
 times entered into a religious difcourfe with my heathen 
 
 L 2 com-
 
 ^6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^772- companion; he aflerted, that I was the firft that had fpoken 
 V^vO to him on that fubjecSt, at the fame time that he was fo 
 ftupid (for fo he called himfelf) as not to know or com- 
 prehend any thing concerning it, nor did he think it was 
 for him to trouble himfelf with thefe matters ; however, 
 he did not feem unwilling to believe every thing that any 
 body fliould think proper to tell him. His thoughts had 
 never afcended to a fuperior being, nor led him to the firft 
 origin of any thing, to the creature or to the Creator. He very 
 well knew, that the white men affembled together in the 
 churches, but had never thought of afking to what pur- 
 pofe. Very likely it may be fo, was the anfwer he ufually 
 gave me, when I talked to him on this fubjedl. Notwith- 
 Itanding this, he feemed to have in fome meafure an ab- 
 horrence of vice, and a veneration for what was good. 
 The perfon, who at that time recommended him to vnj 
 fervice, gave him the character of being extremely faith- 
 ful. In other refpedts his mind was capable enough of 
 being illumined ; but as the making of profelytes brings 
 the Dutch in neither capital nor intereft, this poor foul, 
 with many others of his countrymen, was neglected. But 
 more of this and other matters by the next opportunity 
 that offers. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 With the botanical excurfion, the detail of which is 
 given in this letter, I was extremely well pleafed on fe ve- 
 ra! accounts. The fix laft days of it might almoft be call- 
 ed a forced march, intermixed with a good deal of leap- 
 ing, and (what tires one full as much) clambering. With 
 
 the
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 77 
 
 the fame inclination, however, I think I could have lafled ^ii-^^- 
 out feveral days longer in the fame manner. The next v^^J^O 
 day after my departure from the Cape, was, as 1 have al- 
 ready related, the mofl tirefome to me ; afterwards both 
 my limbs and joints feemed to get more ufed to the exer- 
 cife. The two or three firfl days after I had got home, I 
 felt myfelf fore and tender, or, as people ufually exprefs 
 it, beat and bruifed all over, but this went off by degrees : 
 in like manner as, thanks to the violent exercife I had 
 taken, fome difagreeable, though flight touches, of a rheu- 
 matic gout entirely vanifhed, with which I had been 
 troubled fome time before, and that chiefly in rainy wea- 
 ther ; and which did not return upon me, before I was ex- 
 pofed to the cold in the Antarctic polar circle. After my 
 return home, however, I was wife enough to make a little 
 excurfion every day. 
 
 SECT.
 
 jS A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Refidence at Alplicn, after the Author^s return 
 
 from PaarL 
 
 April 
 
 1772. T N one of my excuiTions I had the good fortune to meet 
 A ^vith Mr. Hemming, the fub-governor, on his farm, in 
 the diilri(Sl of Conftantia ; who, though he thought highly of 
 the fcience of botany, was yet aftoniflied that my enthu- 
 fiafm for it fliould have carried me fo far about in the 
 fpace of fix days, viz. from the Cape over "Tiger-berg 
 through Paarly Botlary^ and fo in a circle home again, 
 and this by no means by the neareft w^ay. 
 
 Mr. Hemming's garden w'as one of the befl in the dif- 
 tri6l ; he had taken pains to procure grafts of orange and 
 lemon-trees, and layers of the pomegranate from Spain, 
 from which he promifed himfelf fruit equal to the Spanifh, 
 as what grows at the Gape at prefent is not quite fo good. 
 Divers forts of cherry-trees, that grow here, fcarcely pro- 
 duced a iingle cherry, though various trials had been made 
 with them in different fpots. The bell: method he had 
 found of rooting out a uniola^ w^hich was overrunning his 
 kitchen- garden, was to few it with cabbage for a year, as he 
 had obferved,that this weed never throve on land where cab- 
 bages had been fown. TYiQpifang was to be met with in his 
 
 garden
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 79 
 
 garden of a luxuriant growth, but was faid not to produce 1772- 
 fruit of fo high a flavour as it does in its native country. \,y^^ 
 A fpecies of this grows wild in the Houtniquas country, a 
 diflridl fomewhat to the eafl of Mufcle-bay ; though I could 
 never find it there myfelf, 
 
 I continued at the farm at Alphen till about the middle 
 of November. Entirely taken up with the Cape plants, I 
 did not feldom revolve in my mind, how I fhould go on 
 with them for months and years enfuing ; but fate had 
 ordered it otherwife. In fa6t, it was ordained, that I fliould 
 fuddenly change the continent of Africa, its delightful fum- 
 mer-climate, and its beautiful flowers, for a bleak cold 
 ocean, blocked up with mountains of ice. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 So AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Voyage to the South- Sea. 
 
 L^^y^ 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 ^e Circumjiances which gave occafwn to this Voyage. 
 
 1772. ^ I ^HE circumflances which gave occafion to this voyage 
 ^]!^ jL were as follows : The Ihips Refolution and Adventure', 
 deftined to make a voyage towards the South Pole and round 
 the glohe, were at that time at anchor in 'Table -hay. The 
 MelTrs. Forster accompanied them in the capacity of natu- 
 ralifts ; and had an appointment from the Britifh crown of 
 4000I. fterling, or 8000 ducats, for the whole expedition. 
 They were brought toAlphen by Major Van Prehm, in order 
 to be introduced to me. By this means I had the pleafure 
 of enjoying their company for a couple of days. As the 
 fouthern continent, which was flill pretty generally fup- 
 pofed to exift, had taken no fmall hold on my imagina- 
 tion, this was fufficient reafon for me to congratulate 
 2 thefe
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 8i 
 
 thefe gentlemen on the truft repofed in them, and the i772' 
 good fortune they had in viliting as naturahfts, fo diitant v^vO 
 and unknown a part of our globe. I found them not only 
 ^ager each for his own part to fulfil what the world ex^ 
 pedled and required of them, but they even went fo far 
 in their zeal for the more accurate inveftigation of nature, 
 as to thiuk of procuring an affiflant, at no fmall coft to 
 themfelves, and therefore offered me my voyage gratis, 
 with part of fuch natural curiolities as they might chance 
 to collecSl, on condition of my aflifting them with my poor 
 abilities. Such an unexpecfted return to my compliment, 
 had almoft deprived me of the power of anfwering them, 
 had not my heart dictated to me the moll lively expreflions 
 of gratitude to them for the confidence they placed in me. 
 But before I could give a determinate anfwer to fo lucra- 
 tive and agreeable a propofal, which at the fame time did 
 me fo much honour, but likewife fet before me a tedious, 
 difficult, and dangerous voyage, the affair feemed to re- 
 quire fome confideration. Should I accept this ofier, thought 
 I, and the event prove fortunate, I fhould foon forget my 
 fatigues, nay, frequently remember with pleafure the dif- 
 ficulties I had undergone. On the other hand, fliould I 
 once negle6l this opportunity, I fliould long have to up- 
 braid myfelf with the omiffion. I recollected, that the 
 great Linnaeus had frequently faid, nothing had vexed him 
 more in his whole life, than that, when he refided in Hol- 
 land, he had not accepted of the offer which had been 
 made him of taking a voyage to the Gape of Good Hope. 
 
 As two Swedes, Dr. Sol and er and Mr. Spoering, with 
 remarkable honour to themfelves and advantage to fcience. 
 
 Vol. I. M had
 
 g^ A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 177?- had before undertaken a voyage to New Holland, Sec. and 
 O^llO fo round the world, I could not help williing that a Swede 
 likewife might have the opportunity of making a vifit to 
 the fouth pole, and the continent fuppofed to be in t±ke 
 vicinity of it. I had reafon as well as the MelTrs. Forster 
 to hope, that the affiftance of a third naturalift (meaning 
 myfelf ) might add to the difcoveries of the curious pro- 
 dudlions of nature, which the two others were fo intent 
 upon making ; efpecially in thofe places, which were now 
 about to be vifited for the firft, and probably for the laft 
 time. In other refpeds, in cafe that any of the plants 
 which are fo ufeful in the colder parts of the north lliould 
 be found in the fouth, who could be fuppofed capable to 
 colle6l them with fuch affiduity, or of preferving the feeds 
 of them with fo much care as a Swede ? Again, on the 
 other hand, if my voyage fliould prove unfuccefsful, I was 
 in hopes that my miferies, together with life itfelf, and all 
 its train of attendant evils, would have a fpeedy end. Oc- 
 cupied by refle6lions of this kind, I pafTed the night, per- 
 hai>s more reftlefs than will eafily be imagined. The next 
 morning by day -break, the diflradlion of my thoughts car- 
 ried me to my chamber window ; here I fixed my eyes on 
 the adjacent meadows, as though I meant to afk the plants 
 and flowers that grew on them, whether I ought to part 
 with them fo haftily. They had for a long time been 
 almoil my only joy, my fole friends and companions ; and 
 now it was thefe only, which in a great meafure prevented 
 me from making the voyage. At length I came to the 
 refblution of undertaking it ; yet with a fixed determina- 
 tion, that if I had the good fortune to come back to the 
 
 Cape,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 83 
 
 Cape, I would again occupy myfelf on this fame fpot with ^772. 
 the moft dehghtful of all employments, the inveftiga- '^'O 
 tion of nature. I therefore began to get ready for my 
 journey ; and fent fpecimens of the infects and plants I had 
 colledled to Sir Charles Linnaeus and other lovers of the 
 fcience. The reft of my colledtions, &:c. I left at the Cape, 
 at the prelident's houfe, defiring him to difpatch them to 
 Sweden, in cafe he fhould receive any certain information 
 of our fliip's being loft ; or in cafe my abfence for any 
 length of time, fliould give him reafon to doubt of my re- 
 turn. The danger of the journey was, however, the leaft 
 of my cares ; the fuppofed length of it, together with my 
 ignorance of the Englifli language, as well as of the dif- 
 pofttion of the people, with whom I was to be converfant 
 during the whole time, perplexed me much more. The 
 farewel letters I wrote to fome of my relations were fo 
 much the more painful to me, as I could eafily imagine 
 to myfelf their anxiety and uneaftnefs on the account of 
 my impending fate. I therefore thought it moft advifeable, 
 to reprefent my journey to be as eafy and commodious as 
 was confiftent with any degree of probability. 
 
 In the feven months that had pafled ftnce my departure 
 from my native country, I had had no news from thence. 
 I now gave up all thoughts of getting a fingle word of in- 
 telligence from any part of Europe for four times that 
 period. Thus circumftanced, how much it coft me to go 
 on board, I leave thofe to imagine who are not entirely 
 devoid of feeling. 
 
 What happened during this remarkable voyage, I fear 
 would be liable to tedious repetitions, were I to relate it in 
 
 M 2 the
 
 84 AVOYAGEto the 
 
 »77!' the form of a journal, partly on account of the frequent 
 V^ryO occurrence of events prtttj nearly refembling each other, 
 and partly by reafon that various iflands were vilited feveral 
 times ; a more particular account of the voyage therefore, 
 I muft defer to fome other opportunity. In the mean while,, 
 for the fake of preferving the order and connexion of time,, 
 it feems requifite, that I fliould here, in its proper place, 
 give fome account, though as concifely as poffible, of the 
 different regions we explored during the fucceeding twenty- 
 eight months, till the time of my landing again fafe at 
 the Cape. 
 
 SECT.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE* Bs 
 
 SECT. 11. 
 
 Voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to Nero 
 
 Zealand. 
 
 ON the 2 2d of November, 1772, at four o^clock in the 
 afternoon, we failed from the Cape. The very fame 
 day ftormy weather, and the difagreeable kind of ficknefs 
 \vhich ufually attends people at fea on their fetting out, ap- 
 peared to a degree fufiicient to make many wiHi themfelves 
 on fhore. Within eighteen days from our leaving the flowery 
 meads of the Cape, we found ourfelves very near a conlider- 
 able large floating illand of ice. The thermometer flood at 
 a few degrees above the freezing point, while our latitude 
 was only 50 deg. fouth. How difagreeably we pafTed the 
 remainder of the fummer in this hemifphere, may be ga- 
 thered from this, that we made our way through floating 
 iflands of ice, fometimes as big as mountains, till we came 
 to lat. 67'. 10''; fo that we are, and probably fliall 
 continue to be, the only mortals that can boaft of the 
 frozen honour (as I may call it) of having pafTed the ant- 
 ardtie polar circle. A hundred and twent)^-two days, or 
 fomething more than feventeen weeks, were elapfed, with- 
 out our having been able to fee land ; but not without 
 our having gone through divers pesils, not to mention the 
 
 hardfliips 
 
 ^ 1772- 
 
 November.
 
 86 AVOYAGETOTHii! 
 
 »773- hardfliips which we underwent of various kinds ; elpeci- 
 
 April. ^ 
 
 V^\-0 ally that of having, for the greater part of the above-men- 
 tioned period, remained in exceffively cold latitudes, con- 
 tinually furrounded with ice. The aurora aujlralis^ which 
 in the fouth is the fame as the northern lights in our he- 
 mifphere, a fpedtacle never before feen by a European, 
 now appeared feveral times in the month of March, on 
 the 26th day of which month we anchored in Dujky-bay^ 
 iituated near the fouthernmofl promontory of Nezv Zealand. 
 From hence we went to Cook' s-Jlr ait ^ where we had a fight 
 of that moft fmgular junction of the water with the clouds, 
 which by failors is called the water- fpout; and the next 
 day, being the i8th of April, we anchored in ^een 
 charlotte' s-foimcL The other ihip, the Adventure^ had 
 been feparated from us ever fince the 8th of January in 
 the preceding year, by a fog. After this flie had invefli- 
 gated the weflern coaft of Van Dte7nen\ Land in Neiv Hoi-- 
 land^ and a part of the coaft by which it is fuppofed to be 
 joined with South Wales ^^ which latter was dilcovered in 
 Captain Cook's former voyage. It was great pleafure to 
 us to find, that this fhip had, fortunately for us, landed 
 at the place previoufly agreed upon for the rendezvous. 
 The plants and trees in this country are, excepting fome 
 of its ferns and mofles, almoft entirely unknown, and 
 different from thofe that grow in other parts of the globe. 
 Thefe, therefore, together with the new fpecies of birds 
 and fifties which are to be found here, afforded me an 
 agreeable occupation. The inhabitants, on the other hand, 
 a race of cannibals, live in fuch a mifcrable condition, and 
 have fuch manners and cuftoms, as may excite our pity 
 
 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 87 
 
 and companion in behalf of our own fpecies ; yet, as ^^''^ii 
 among civilized nations there are not wanting fuch as are v^^-v^ 
 a difgrace to human nature, io among thefe very de- 
 vourers of their own fpecies, one might difcover fome traces 
 of a good difpoiition, as well as the feeds of ingenuity, 
 w^hich, under the foilering care of the foul-informing 
 fciences, might render thefe our fellow-creatures, now 
 plunged in darknefs, a much more virtuous and happy 
 people. 
 
 This nation chiefly depends on fifliing for its fupport ; 
 and by purfuing fuch an uncertain livelihood, they want 
 both time and inclination for agriculture and the mechani- 
 cal arts, as well as for that order and regularity which is 
 requilite for the prevention of the barbarifm in which 
 thefe poor people are adlually plunged. For vrhile they 
 are feeking after their food in the water, they fuiFer their 
 lands to be infefted with an imcommonly large kind of 
 Hinging nettles, with other weeds and thorny plants, fo 
 that they are very frequently obliged to tranfport their 
 huts to defert fhores, unftable and floating, as are the 
 animals, which they have to purfue in a boimdiefs element. 
 Notwithftanding this, the foil poflefles fuch a degree of 
 fecundity, that it is capable of being converted into the 
 moil fertile arable land or vine-yards, fuflicient to give food 
 and other conveniencies of life to a great number of inha- 
 bitants, who, united among themfelves, would compofe 
 a very powerful republic, and be in a condition to extend 
 their commerce and conquefts over the whole Pacific Ocean. 
 (Collate with this my oration on laying down the oflice of 
 prefident of the royal academy of fciences.) 
 
 2 SECT.
 
 8§ AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Fuji Voyage from New Zealand to Otaheite^ and 
 from thence back again to New Zealand. 
 
 1773- /^ N the yth of June we failed from New Zealand^ and 
 vJ^X^ V_>/ had thoughts of taking in refrefhments in fome of 
 the warmer iflands, as the cold feafon was now fet in in 
 this part of the world. After we had been at fea a few 
 days, we refolved upon killing a fat, though ugly Dutch 
 dog, before the fcurvy, together with the fhort commons 
 of the fhip, fliould render his flefli unfit for eating. Al- 
 ready "ufed in our run between the Cape and New Zealand 
 to put up with flieep that had died of th« fcurvy or other 
 diforders, difeafed hens and geefe, we certainly were not 
 now in a condition to turn up our nofes at a roafted dog, 
 which was really nice and well-tafted. After we had paffed 
 the tropic, we came in light of divers iflands, fome of 
 which had been difcovered before, and others had 
 been hitherto entirely unknown ; and on the 1 6th of Au- 
 guft we arrived at the far-famed, though, perhaps, too 
 highly celebrated, ifland of Otabeite, We were in the 
 ;greateft danger of fufferiug fhipwreck on this ifland, facred 
 
 to
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 89 
 
 I?' 
 
 to love ; for our keel flruck feveral times very hard aQ:ainft , -, 
 
 - c> Auguft. 
 
 the coral rocks, before we came to anchor. After re- ^^-.^r*^ 
 maining here fourteen days we vilited the iflands of Hua- 
 heine<i Uliatea^ and Otaba, and afterwards difcovered a new, 
 but probably an uninhabited ifland ; looked out for the 
 iflands of New Arnjierdam and New Middleburg, difcovered 
 about a himdred years ago by Tasman ; and having found 
 them, and taken in refrefliments there, returned again to 
 'Siueen Cbariotte^s-foundy in New Zealand^ after having been 
 abfent from it about half a year. During this run, ac- 
 cording to the time of the year it was winter; but, with 
 refpedl to our feelings and the warmth of the weather, it 
 was fummer. We likewife met with a greater variety of 
 remarkable fubje6ls for defcription (fuch as the different 
 countries, their produce, the nations that inhabited them, 
 and their peculiar cufloms and manners) than I am able 
 to comprize here in a fmall compafs. I cannot, however, 
 help relating fome few events that happened at different 
 times: as for inftance, one evening when both fliips, 
 driving before a brifk gale of wind, wanted to fpeak with 
 each other, they came fo near together in confequence of 
 the great fwell of the fea, and the dilatory manoeuvering 
 of the men at the helm of one of the Ihips, that not- 
 withftanding the officer of the watch repeatedly called 
 out with the greateft anxiety, Jlarboard and port, they 
 were within a hair's breadth of ftriking againfl each other; 
 in which cafe they would doubtlefs have daflied one another 
 to pieces in an inftant, or elfe have both gone to the bottorn. 
 As befides myfelf very few people, not even the officers 
 Vol. I. N belonging
 
 90 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '773- belonging to the watch, were on deck, this accident is neither 
 L^vvJ mentioned in the log-book of the iliip, nor in any of the 
 journals yet pubiiflied. It feemed in the beginning as if 
 both fliips would ftrike with their broadfides againft each 
 other, but diredly upon that the Adventure dropped 
 aftern, and with the point of her bowfprit came within two 
 or three yards at leaft of our mizen-fhrouds, and fo made 
 a flourifli over our tafFarel and eniign-ftafF. Upon this, 
 an officer who belonged to another watch immediately ob- 
 ferved, that it was in the higheft degree imprudent, and 
 without the leaft fhow of reafon, to fail up to each other 
 in fuch a brifk gale and high furge; to which the officer 
 of the watch made no farther reply, than juft to repeat 
 feveral times with great feeming fatisfacSlion, " It is all 
 over now." Indeed, they both allowed, that we were very 
 near fuffering fliipwreck in the middle of the ocean. The 
 other accident I fliall relate, concerned myfelf alone. Once 
 when I was on a botanical excurlion in Huaheine, fome 
 Indians fell upon me and plundered me ; leaving the up- 
 per part of my body quite naked, with feveral marks 
 of violence on my head and breaft. This incident pro- 
 ceeded partly from a fancy the Indians had taken to 
 my clothes, and partly from a defire of revenge; Captain 
 Cook having juft before been obliged to drive away 
 an impudent Indian by force, and take his weapons 
 from him. 
 
 We were feparated from the Adventure on the coaft 
 of New Zealand by a ftorm, and never faw her after- 
 wards. She came to anchor in ^een Charlotte'' s-found^ 
 
 before
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 91 
 
 before we went from thence, where flie had the misfor- '77 i- 
 tune to lofe her whole boat's crew, confifting of ten men, vj^^o 
 who were killed, roafted, and eaten by the cannibals. 
 Upon which lire fet out on her way home, and arrived 
 in Europe a year before the fliip coznmanded by Captain 
 Cook, 
 
 N 2 SECT,
 
 g2 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 S E C 1\ IV 
 
 Second Voyage from New Zealand to Otaheite^ and 
 from thence back agaiii. 
 
 November 
 
 1773. /^N the 25th of November in the year 1773, we fail- 
 V_>/ ed from New Zealand, in order once more, and 
 during another fummer, to explore the cold fouthern 
 latitudes. From the 13th to the 2 ill of December we 
 pafled for the firft, and in all probability for the laft time, 
 that part of the globe, which is the diredl antipodes to 
 Sweden^ fo that I was now on the fpot the moft diftant 
 from my native country of any on the whole globe, as 
 the neareft way home, fuppofing one could go through 
 the center of the earth, or the length of the whole earth's 
 diameter, was about fix thoufand eight hundred and twenty- 
 one miles. This aftonifliing diftance, however, did not 
 prevent my rapid thoughts from frequently vifiting my 
 beloved countrymen and relations during this period, 
 while my feet were in diredl oppofition to their's. After 
 this we advanced flill farther, infomuch that on the 20th of 
 December we j^afTed the antarBic circle a fecond time, and 
 did not repafs it till the 25th, fo that we kept our Chrift- 
 mas-eve (though, it muft be owned, a very meagre one) 
 in the frigid zone. On the 26th of the following month 
 
 we
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 93 
 
 we pafTed the fouthern polar circle, for the third time. ^r^J.'^h. 
 We now penetrated into the fouthern regions as far as we *w^^^ 
 could go; as before we had got to 71 deg. 14 min. we 
 were prevented by the ice from putting in execution the 
 fcheme we had fondly formed of hoifting the Britifli flag 
 in a lixth part of the world, or even in the fouthern pole 
 itfelf. We now therefore turned about to the north, in 
 order to take in refrefliments in a warmer climate, as win- 
 ter or the cold feafon was expedled foon to return. 
 
 On the 14th of March we anchored off Eajler-ijlandj 
 which is iltuated in 27 deg. S. lat. and 199 deg. 46 min. 
 W. long. Here we found no good water, and few refrefli- 
 ments of any fort. The lava and other volcanic productions 
 that we faw here, together with fome huge images of ftone 
 raifed to fome height from the ground, plainly evinced, 
 that fome violent revolution of the earth had defaced a 
 country which had been formerly in a more flourifliing 
 condition, and thereby reduced a once powerful nation to 
 the wretched ftate in which we now found it. 
 
 On the 1 6th of March we failed from hence, and on 
 the 7 th of April anchored off one of the Marquefas illands. 
 Thefe are fituated in about 10 deg. of lat. The greater 
 part of them were difcovered by the Spaniards a hundred 
 years ago. The inhabitants gave us feveral proofs of their 
 difpofition to hoflilities as well as thieving, fo that we were 
 obliged to leave them fome bloody marks of the efficacy of our 
 fire-arms. Having ftaid here a few days we fet fail, and af- 
 ter a quick pafTage, landed at 'Teokea^ in lat. i ^ . We met with 
 fome hoflilities from the people here, but contented ourfelves 
 with infpiring them with terror, by firing our cannons over 
 
 their
 
 94 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '774' their heads. We afterwards difcovered feveral fmall illands, 
 V.^;^-nJ and at length, on the 2 2d of April, came to anchor for 
 the fecond and laft time off Otaheite^ where we remained 
 till the fourteenth of May. Various circumftances contri- 
 buted to render our abode here more delightful than be- 
 fore. We now procured many more intereitmg informa- 
 tions touching this country and people, than were known 
 before. On the 2d of June we were informed by fome 
 of the inhabitants, that two fliips had landed at Huaheine 
 or Ovabeine, one of which was larger than ours. By fub- 
 .fequent accounts from Spain we know, that this fhip was 
 from the Spanifli fettlements in America; and that the 
 year before, during our flay at Otaheite, fome of the crew 
 belonging to a Spanifh fhip had been left there, one of 
 whom had actually hid himfelf in a crowd of people, on 
 being, though drefled in the Indian fafliion, taken by an 
 Englifh failor for a European, and accordingly accofled by 
 him in the French language. This, with feveral other 
 circumftances, makes it highly probable, that the Spanifh 
 fhips were fent both years to be fpies upon us, and to 
 make reprifals upon us in return for our viiits in a part of 
 the world of which they are fo extremely jealous, and of 
 which they look upon themfelves as the fole proprietors ; 
 efpecially conlidering that previoufly to this they have, 
 merely on account of their carrying on an illicit commerce, 
 punifhed many Englifhmen, by condemning them to hard 
 labour in their mines. (See the Gottingen Magazine for 
 1780, No. I. p. 75.) 
 
 After we quitted Otaheite we paid a vilit to Huaheine 
 and Ulitea^ likewife for the fecond and laft time ; leaving 
 on the latter ifland a fenfible youth, who about eight 
 
 month*
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 95 
 
 months before had had the courage to come on board of us. j774- 
 His name was Oedide, though otherwife called Maheine. V^-v^ 
 
 On the 4th of June we failed from Ulitea, and on the 
 6th pafTed by Move's ifland. On the i6th we difcovered 
 P almerflo7^e\ illand, and on the 20th Savage ifland, fo call- 
 ed from our being received by the favages there in a very 
 hoflile manner. They hit me on the arm with a large 
 ftone, and threw a javelin among us. For which reafon 
 we did not ftay to anchor here, but went on to Namocka^ 
 or New Rotterdam^ one of the friendly ifles above-men- 
 tioned. In the fame vicinity we faw feveral iflands, be- 
 Udes thofe difcovered by Tasman, and upon one of them 
 there appeared a volcano. On the 2d of July we defcried a 
 fmall inhabited ifland, which we called 'Turtle Ifland^ and 
 the next day made a hafty landing there. On the i6th 
 we came to the iflands difcovered by Quiros^ which M. 
 Bougainville invefl:igated more narrowly, calling them 
 X\\<t Cyc lades \ but Captain Cook, who now difcovered a greater 
 number of them, gave to the whole of this Archipelago 
 the name of the New Hebrides, Off one of thefe, to which 
 we gave the name oi Mallicola^ we cafl: anchor on the 2 2d 
 of July. Here we found a diminutive race of people, with 
 a language peculiar to themfelves, and poifoned weapons. 
 They received us in a friendly manner, notwithfl:anding 
 which there happened a flcirmifh between us ; however, 
 after flaying there a couple of days, we parted friends. 
 
 On the 3d of Augufl we anchored for a few hours be- 
 fore Irromanga^ a newly difcovered ifland, the inhabitants 
 of which offered to detain our captain and boat, an attempt 
 which many of them paid for with their lives, although 
 
 but
 
 96 A V O Y A G E T o T H E 
 
 1774. but two of our people were wounded. On the 4th we 
 V^,„^i^^ anchored before the ifland of Carina, in 19 deg. 30 mm, 
 S. lat. Glofe by the harbour there was a volcano, which 
 iliowered afhes upon us every day. The fmoke, flame, 
 and loud thunder proceeding from this mountam, afforded 
 a beautiful and fublime fpe6lacle. The inhabitants fpoke 
 a peculiar language, of which we had not the leaf! know- 
 ledge; and fliewcd us much friendfliip, though not with- 
 out committing fome hoftilities, w^hich drove us to the dif- 
 agreeable neceffity of flainingthis otherwife hofpitable fliore, 
 with the blood of fome of the inhabitants. On the 20th 
 we fleered again for the northern illes of this Archipelago, 
 but at length quitted them entirely, after having fpent in 
 the inveftigation of them forty-fix days; a period of time^ 
 in which we alternately experienced pleafure, difgufl, and 
 danger. More than once we were expofed to the poifoned 
 weapons of the natives, from the flightefl wound arifing 
 from which, we had every reafon to dread as painful and 
 terrible a death, accompanied with madnefs, as happened 
 to fome of Captain Carterefs crew, when they were wound- 
 ed on the coaft of Nezv Guinea. At one time our fliip had 
 run aground ; at another flie was in danger of dafliing 
 againft the rocks ; and at another time, viz. on the ifl of 
 Augufl, of being confumed by fire in the open fea ; when 
 it would have been our wretched fate, either to be blown up 
 in the air, or to have fought for death in the briny ocean. 
 On the 4th of September, after three days fail, we dif- 
 covered the largeft ifland, next to Nezv Zealand^ in the 
 whole Pacific Ocean, which by Captain Cook was called 
 New Caledonia^ and feemed with refpedl to its foil and ve- 
 3 getables
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 97 
 
 g-etables to relemble New Holland. The inhabitants were , ^774- 
 
 '-' . September. 
 
 civil and hofpitable, but poor, and fpoke a language pecu- ^^vO 
 liar to themfelves. At this place, by great good fortune, 
 I avoided eating the liver of a poifonous fifh, in company 
 with the captain and MefTrs. Forjier^ who were extremely 
 ill for fome days afterwards. On the 15th, for want of 
 wdnd, we wxre near being driven on the rocks ; and on the 
 28th at night were in the moft dangerous fituation, being 
 furrounded by a coral reef. That evening, when I went to 
 bed, there was the greatell probability that I fliould never 
 wake again, but at my very laft gafp : I however had 
 the good fortune to go to fleep direcStly, and flept very 
 found, and the next morning to find that I had efcaped the 
 moft imminent danger that could well be imagined. 
 
 On the loth of 06lober we faw Norfolk ifland, in 29 
 cLtg, 1 min. S. lat. the firfl difcovery the Englifli made 
 beyond the tropics. We landed upon it, and found it un- 
 inhabited. On the 1 8th we came for the third time to 
 anchor in '^ueen Charlotte'^ Sound in New Zealand. 
 
 Vol. I. O S"E C T. 
 
 kl
 
 98 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 December 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Voyage from New Zealand to Terra del Fiiego^ and 
 from thence farther on towards the South Pole. 
 
 1774. /^^ N the loth of November we failed from New Zea- 
 V^ land. Our fliip was now found to have fprung a 
 leak, but not of any confequence. In the fpace of lix 
 weeks, we had failed over the whole ocean between New 
 Zealand and the fouthernmoft part oi America \ and on the 
 20 th of December anchored to the fouth of Terra del Fuego^ 
 where we faw the moft wretched race of men in the world. 
 On the 29th we paffed Cape Horn, and on the 31ft, or 
 New-year's eve, we anchored off a little ifland near Staaten- 
 lancly in the ftraits of Le Maire ; here we had an agreeable 
 amufement in hunting an innumerable quantity of fea- 
 lions, feals, and fea- fowls. 
 
 On the 23d of January, 1775, "^^^ failed to the fouth- 
 eaft, and on the 1 4th difcovered the ifland of South Georgia^ 
 in lat. 54 deg. 38 min. Here we landed in all fpeed, and 
 though it was now the fummer feafon, we found the whole 
 country covered with an eternal fnow, excepting fome of its 
 coafts, on which there grew only one fingle fpecies of grafs, 
 and a fort of fanguifopba. This horrid country, however, 
 4 afforded
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE. 99 
 
 aflforded us fome frefh provifions, viz. the flefli of the , '77?. 
 
 ■'■ ' January, 
 
 fea-lion and feal ; a kind of food that we had fome time ^ixv^ 
 before learnt to put up with. We afterwards found one 
 after another, feveral fmall iflands and rocks ; on one of 
 which, in confequence of a fog arifing, we very narrowly 
 efcaped being fliipwrecked ; an accident which, in the 
 circumftances we were in, would inevitably have put an 
 end to our voyage and difcoveries, together with our 
 lives. 
 
 On the 28th of January, in lat. 60, the fliip could make 
 no way on account of the ice. On the 31ft we found 
 ourfelves in a fog, and very near a high land, covered 
 every where with an eternal fnow ; but the approach of 
 winter and other circumftances, occafioned us to give over 
 all farther inveftigation of this place. This furtheft point 
 of land that we could fee, we called the fouthern 'fhule^ as 
 being the moft diftant land feen in this hemifphere. 
 
 O 2 SECT.
 
 IQO 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Return to the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 '775- A T length we quite turned our backs upon thefe cold 
 v^'Y'O -ZjL latitudes, when the daily increafing warmth, and 
 our approach to the north, to the civilized world, to our 
 friends and our home, contributed to enliven us with the 
 hopes of a quick and fortunate conclufion to the ^vhole 
 voyage, and the many difagreeable circumftances attend- 
 ing it. But that we now had many more hardfhips to 
 undergo, than Byron, Wallis, and Cook had fufFered 
 in their former voyages round the earth, many of our 
 officers, as well as of the crew, who had been on one or 
 more of thofe voyages, attefted. The purpofes intended 
 to be anfwered by our voyage, particularly that of ap- 
 proaching as near as we could to the fouth pole, required 
 other attempts to be made, other dangers to be undergone : 
 the remainder of the voyage confequently, was almoll a 
 concatenation of dangers and hardfhips. 
 
 On the 17th of March we faw land, viz. the coafl: oi Africa. 
 The reader may eafily imagine, how delightful a fight this 
 was to us. In the mean while, entirely ignorant of the 
 ftate of affairs in Evirope, we could not, when once- in light 
 
 of
 
 March. 
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. lOi 
 
 of the harbour itfelf, afllire ourfelves that we Ihoiild not ^ll{ 
 be picked up by fome unknown enemy, who might carry 
 us out as prifoners, perhaps to the moft diftant part of the 
 Eaft-Indies. The next day, however, we overtook a Dutch 
 veffel, and received from her the joyful news of a general 
 peace. Before night we faw feveral fails more, which 
 feemed to be fleering by the Cape, and making as faft as 
 poflible for Europe ; and with no fmall pleafure, particu- 
 larly on my part, we faw the Swedifli flag flying upon two 
 of them. The ocean had hitherto, during our voyage, been 
 really too lonefome and defolate a theatre to us ; and it 
 would be neceflary to be as weary of the uniformity of it^ 
 as we were, in order to enjoy a light upon it, which at 
 any other time would have been of no confequence. Nei- 
 ther is it any wonder, that in fo long a fpace of time, we 
 came to be in fome meafure weary of each others company ; 
 when, for inftance, thofe who were ufed to entertain the 
 company with tales and anecdotes, were obliged to have 
 recourfe two or three times to the fame flories, in order to 
 furnifh their quota in converfation. 
 
 The following morning we overtook an Englifli fliip 
 called the 'True Briton^ commanded by Captain Broadly, 
 who fent us fome old news-papers. Full of love for my 
 native country, I firfl and foremofl, with the greateft eager- 
 nefs, ran over all the articles in them that concerned Sweden; 
 but found only a couple of lines, which gave me to under- 
 ftand that a great revolution had taken place there, but 
 did not fay when or how. This gave rife to divers con- 
 jedtures amongft us, and was to me in particular an afFedt- 
 ing fubjed to ruminate upon ; but from what the Englifh 
 
 told 
 
 I
 
 101 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- told me, as well as from what ray own ideas fuggefted to me, 
 
 March. . ^ -, i . . , Z^ ,. rt 
 
 \i^w^ I was convinced, that the commotions in the Swedilh go- 
 vernment were then almoft at fuch a height, as fcarcely to be 
 capable of growing worfe, and that thus this news in all 
 probability argued fomething better. This confideration 
 was not without its effect in comforting me, till time fhew- 
 ed how extremely right v\^e had beem in our conjecStures. 
 
 At length on the Wednefday following, being the 2 2d 
 of March, 1775, after a voyage of fixty thoufand miles, 
 and an abfence of two years and a quarter from the Chrif- 
 tian and civilized part of the world, we came again to 
 anchor in I'able-bay, Thofe who before us had failed round 
 the globe always w^nt to the weflward, and thus loft a day 
 in their reckoning. But, as we made the fame voyage 
 towards the eaft, and thus continually anticipated the rifing 
 of the fun, we were confequently the firft, and, indeed, only 
 navigators, who had gained a day, or found a fuper- 
 numerary day on their journals. Confequently, according 
 to the Dutch almanacks at the Cape, in was on Tuefday, 
 or the 2ift of March, that we landed there; lb that, 
 dire6tly contrary to every known and ufual mode of ex- 
 preflion, we adlually had two Tuefdays in one week. 
 
 It was now a thing which we earneftly willied for, as 
 well as of the greateft confequence to us, to enter the 
 harbour, as feveral of our crew were attacked with the 
 fcurvy. Our unparalleled prefervatives of four-crout and 
 wort, had, it muft be owned, pretty well kept us from 
 the ravages of this otherwife deftru6live diforder, fo that 
 we loft only one of our crew by licknefs (an old complaint 
 of the lungs) fmce we left the Cape ; but our blood and 
 
 humours
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 103 
 
 humours were, as well as our malt, and the greatefl part j^77v 
 of our proviiions, in confequence of the length of the V^y>-^ 
 voyage, fpoiled and corrupted. Our bread was, and had 
 been for a long time, both mufty and mouldy ; and at the 
 fame time fwarming with two different forts of little brown 
 grubs (the curcidio granarius^ or weevil, and the dermejles 
 paniceus) which either in that flate or in that of their larvas, 
 or maggots, had neflled themfelves into every bit of bread 
 that we had, fo that we could not pollibly avoid eating 
 them; and they frequently difcovered themfelves to us, 
 the former by a bitter, the latter by a difagreeable cold 
 tafte in the mouth. Nay, their larvas, or maggots, were 
 found in fuch quantities in the peas-foup, as if they had 
 been flrewed over our plates on purpofe, fo that \\q could 
 not avoid fwallowing fome of them in every fpoonful we 
 took. The peas ufed for this purpofe, had been ground 
 a little in England, that they might boil the eaiier, but 
 had by this very means afforded an eafier paffage to thefe 
 difguffful infedls. 
 
 What was of flill more confequence, was, that we had 
 only a quantity of bread, bad as it was, fufficient for a 
 few days on board ; and as for the brandy, an article of 
 great importance to the crew, it w^as, if I remember right, 
 quite gone the day before we arrived in the harbour. 
 Pepper, vinegar, coffee and fugar, by the help of which,, 
 taking them in their turns, the fait proviiion would have 
 been lefs hurtful to us, we had for a long time been en- 
 tirely without. Our fait meat, now almoft three years old, 
 having been kept on board during the whole of this period, 
 was the more dried and flirunkup, as the fait had had fo much 
 
 the
 
 104 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- the lonsfer time to abforb to itfelf and dry up all the moi- 
 V^^vo ilure and juices. Thefe, with feveral other difficulties, 
 occaiibned the joy we felt at having got into the harbour, 
 where we fhould be able in many refpeds to lead, as it 
 "svere, a new life, to be as unbounded as it was univerfal. 
 With pleafure, likewife, and longing defire, we received 
 our letters from Europe, but not without a very natural 
 anxiety and fear, left we lliould find in them accounts of 
 the lofs of our deareft friends and acquaintance. After 
 about five weeks ftay at the Cape, the Refolution failed 
 for England, attended with my moft hearty good wiflies. 
 The civilities I had received from almoft every body on 
 board this fliip, the dangers I had undergone in it, and 
 the friendfliips, which during that long fpace of time I had 
 liad an opportunity of making, gave me, it muft be owned, 
 fufficient caufe. I, for my part, in purfuance of the refo- 
 lution I had previoufly made, ftaid behind in Africa, in 
 order to continue my refearches in this country, of which 
 I therefore now refume the relation. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 CAPE OF G O O D H O P E. 105 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Journey from Cape Town to the Goitntry of the 
 
 Caffres. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Rcftdence at Cape Tozvn previous to the Authofs African 
 
 Expedition, 
 
 J77- 
 
 MY defires and thoughts continually ran upon making 
 — a journey into the internal parts of this country, and C^vO 
 
 viHting the different nations of it. For the prefent, how- 
 ever, I was obhged to Hay in the town, and wait for the 
 appearance of fpring or the fine feafon. 
 
 I have obferved before, that the quaade mouffon^ or win- 
 ter, is reckoned to iaft from the 1 4th of May to the fame 
 day in Auguft; and that during that time, fliips feldoni 
 venture to run into 'Table-bay, A Dutch vefTel, which 
 nqverthelefs iliill ftaid here on fome particular bufinefs, and 
 on the night fucceeding the 1 4th day had thrown out all 
 
 Vol. L P her
 
 t 
 
 1 06 A V O Y AXj E TO THE ' 
 
 '775- her anchors on account of the violence of the north-weft 
 
 V^'"^ wind, was very near being driven on the rocky ground 
 
 that Hes by the fide of the fort. The day after this, or 
 
 the 15th, the bay was fo much agitated by the florm, that 
 
 no boat or iloop could go to or from the above-mentioned 
 
 ihip. The next evening the wind increafed as the night 
 
 ^ came on, and the poor feamen had reafon to fear that every 
 
 minute would be their laft. The extreme darknefs of the 
 
 night, contributed not a little to make the danger, and even 
 
 death itfelf more terrible. I lived in the upper ftory of a 
 
 ftone houfe towards the higher part of the town, where 
 
 the hurricane fliook the windows, roof, and, I had almoll 
 
 faid, the whole houfe. This my fituation, as well as the 
 
 more dangerous one of the Dutch fliip, awakened in me a 
 
 lively remembrance of the Antardlic cold, and the various 
 
 ftorms I had experienced ; and made me more thoroughly 
 
 fenlible of the comforts of a good warm bed-chamber upon 
 
 terra firma, but at the fame time excited in me fo much 
 
 the greater compafTion for the veflel in diftrefs. Contrary 
 
 to all expectation however, its anchor and tackUng were 
 
 proof that night againft the florm ; and the next day's calm, 
 
 at the fame time that it put the fliip out of danger, diffufed 
 
 latisfadtion over the countenances of every one. Another 
 
 event of this kind, though it happened during my ab- 
 
 fence, while I ' ^^•as gone on my voyage to the South Sea, 
 
 deferves however to be recorded in this place, more efpe- 
 
 cially as it is a farther proof of the unfafenefs of this 
 
 road in winter. Here follows the account of it, as I had 
 
 it confirmed to me by feveral eye-witneiies. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 107 
 
 The ftiip Jong "Thomas^ which happened to flay in Table- }^^^* 
 bay till the boifterous feafon had commenced, was driven ^Jf^r>J 
 on fliore by a ftorm near the land on the fide of Zout 
 Rivier^ not far to the northward of the fort. Early in the 
 morning, as foon as this happened, orders were ifTued by 
 government, that no one fliould, on pain of death, pre- 
 fume to approach, even from afar, this unlucky fhore ; 
 where, to give weight and authority to this refolution of 
 theirs, they had with equal readinefs eredled gibbets, and 
 at the fame time pofled troops all over the neighbourhood ; 
 but neither thefe, nor any other meafures taken by them, 
 were in any way conducive to the faving of the crew, 
 being merely calculated to prevent fuch goods and mer- 
 chandize being flolen as might chance to be thrown up 
 in the wreck. The fliip, however, was wrecked very near 
 the fliore ; fo that the crew's diflrefs and calls for afliflance, 
 were heard very diflin6lly ; but the fwell of the fea, which 
 with the greatefl violence waflied over the fliip and broke 
 againfl the flrand, made it impollible for them to fave 
 themfelves in boats, and highly dangerous to attempt it 
 by fwimming. Some of thofe who ventured to fwim to 
 (liore, were thrown againit the rocks and daflied to pieces ; 
 others, as foon as they had arrived at the fliore were car- 
 ried back again by another wave and drowned. One of 
 the keepers of the company's menagerie, who before break 
 of day, ere the prohibition was made public, had rode out 
 to carry his fon (a corporal in the army) his breakfafl, 
 came by that means to be a fpedator of thefe poor peoj^le's 
 <liflrefs ; at the flght of which he was touched with com- 
 pafhon of fo noble a kind, and at the fame time {0 opera- 
 
 P 2 tive.
 
 io8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »775- tive, that feating hinifelf firm on his fpirited horfe* he 
 
 May. n 
 
 ^•Y'O fwam him over to the lliip ; encouraged fome of them 
 feverally to lay hold of the end of a rope, which he threw 
 out to them for that purpofe, and others to fallen them- 
 felves to the horfe's tail ; then turned about, and carried 
 them fafe on fhore. This animal's natural aptnefs for 
 fwimming, the great fize of his lx)dy, the firmnefs and 
 ftrength of his limbs, prevented him from being eafily 
 overpowered by the fwell of the fea. 
 
 But unfortunately this generous and adlive veteran him- 
 felf became a victim to death. Fourteen young perfons he 
 had adlually faved ; and while endeavouring to preferve 
 more than it was pollible for him to do in fo fhort a time, 
 he and his horfe were both drowned. The occafion of 
 this was as follows ; after the feventh turn, having ftaid a 
 little longer than ufual to reft himfelf, the poor wretches 
 on board were afraid that he did not intend to return ; for 
 this reafon being impatient, they redoubled their prayers 
 and cries for affiftance ; upon which, his tendereft feeling 
 being wrought upon, he again haftened to their relief ere 
 his horfe was fufficiently rcfted. The poor animal, almoft 
 fpent, now funk the fooner under his burden, inafmuch 
 as too many fought to be faved at one time ; and one of 
 them, as it was thought, happened unluckily to catch 
 hold of the horfe's bridle, and by that means drew its head 
 under water. This bold and enterprizing philanthropift 
 commands our efteem and admiration the more, as he had 
 put himfelf into this danger for the relief of others, with- 
 out himfelf being able to fwim. I have therefore confi- 
 dered it as my peculiar duty, as well as a pleafure, to 
 
 preferve
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 109 
 
 preferve his name, which was Voltemad, together with ^7?- 
 this gallant exploit of his in thefe pages. Infpired with V^/»vnJ 
 iimilar fentiments, the Eaft-India diredors in Holland^ 
 on receiving intelligence of this affair, raifed a monument 
 to his memory, in a manner worthy of themfelves and 
 him, by calling one of their new-built fhips after his 
 name, and ordering the whole flory to be painted on the 
 Hern. Thefe orders were accompanied with letters to the 
 regency at the Cape, the contents of which were as fol- 
 lows : ^hat in cafe Voltemad bad left any iffue in the mi- 
 litary or civil department^ they fhould take care to provide 
 for them^ and make their fortune as fpeedily and effe&ually as 
 pofjlble. But unfortunately, in the fouthern hemifphere 
 they had not all the fame grateful fentiments. The young 
 corporal Voltemad, who had been an eye-witnefs to his 
 father's having offered himfelf up in the fervice of the 
 company and of mankind, was refufed his father's place, 
 though the appointment to it could fcarcely be confidered 
 as any promotion. From mere chagrin, therefore, he had 
 already quitted that ungrateful country, and was gone to 
 Batavia^ where he died before the news of fo great and 
 unexpe^^ed a recommendation could reach him. There 
 were fever al inhabitants of the Cape, v/ho, while they, 
 with a laudable emotion, lamented the unhappy fate of 
 Voltemad and his fon, affirmed, that a fmall line might, 
 by fome good fwimmer, or by Voltemad himfelf, have 
 been handed from the ftrand to the fhip; by means of 
 which one or more flout ropes might have been ftretched 
 out between thefe latter, for the purpofe of faving the 
 crew. It was likewife thought, that the iffuing of that 
 
 fevere
 
 JJ3 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- fevere prohibition, and the appointment of the guard of 
 \J^ foldiers, were not of fuch ufe to the company as they 
 were imagined to be ; as, not to mention other things, 
 even fo heavy a commodity as iron was flolen away from 
 the wreck; which, after the ftorm had abated, and the 
 fea, that had rifen confiderably, had retired again, as good 
 as lay upon dry land. 
 
 Under the pretence of preventing the people belonging 
 to the fliip from being plundered, they were diredly put 
 under a guard upon the fpot from that time till the even- 
 ing ; and that without their having taken any refrelliment, 
 although they were wet and hungry, and wearied out with 
 the labour of the preceding night. For feveral days after 
 this they were feen wandering up and down the flreets, 
 begging clothes and vi6tuals. One of thefe, indeed, is re- 
 ported to have met with peculiarly rough treatment. This 
 was a failor, who, in order the better to fwim for his life, 
 went off from the wreck almofl naked, and having got 
 fafe on fliore with his cheft, opened it, in order to take out 
 a waiftcoat to cover his naked nefs ; he was, however, not 
 only hindered in fo doing by a young chit of an officer, but 
 w'as obliged to put up with a few ftrokes of a cane into the 
 bargain; being told at the fame time, that he was liable 
 to be hanged without delay on one of the newly-erecSled 
 gibbets ; as, diredly contrary to the exprefs prohibition of 
 government, he had prefumed to meddle with goods faved 
 from the wreck. The failor excufed himfelf with faying, 
 that it was impoffible for him not to be ignorant of the 
 prohibition, and that he could clearly prove himfelf to be 
 the right owner of the cheft by the key of it (which, in 
 
 the
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. in 
 
 the failor's fafliion, was faftened to his belt,) as well as by j^73- 
 a pfalm-book, wherein his name was written, and which ^^•YNi^ 
 lay in that fame chelt. Notwithflanding all this, it was 
 with great difficulty that he faved his neck from the gal- 
 lows. He was forced, however, naked and wet as he was, 
 to wait in the fields till the evening, with no other cover- 
 ing than the fky. Shivering with cold, he at length, 
 through repeated entreaties, got permiffion to look after 
 his chefl, and take what he wanted out of it, but now 
 found it broke open and plundered. To conclude, when 
 they had taken him to the town, and there left him near 
 the gates naked and bare, as above defcribed, he had, how« 
 ever, the good fortune to meet with a tender-hearted citi- 
 zen, who immediately, without the leaft hefitation, gave 
 him the coat off his own back, and took him to his own 
 houfe. 
 
 This anecdote of the failor I had from one fingle per- 
 fon only ; but though that perfon's chara6ter for veracity 
 was unimpeached, yet, for the honour of our fpe- 
 cies, I could heartily wifh, that my informer might be 
 found to have over-charged his colours in the black paint- 
 ing he has made of this tranfadtion ! On the contrary, ra« 
 ther may the fame compaffionate law in favour of thofe 
 who have the misfortune to fuifer fliipwreck, take place 
 in Europe and its colonies as it does in China I on the coafl 
 of which kingdom, all fuch as are unfortunate enough to 
 be flranded, whether natives or Grangers from the mofl 
 diilant country, find not only perfed: fecuriry for their 
 perfons and effects, but are likewife maintained and found 
 in every thing till they get tcr their own home, whither 
 
 they
 
 112 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^11^- they are fent at free coft. Some of the crew of the Fre^ 
 K,y^^^ deric Adolphui^ a Swedifh ^.^^^i'^ lliipwrecked on the Plata 
 bank, September the 3d, 17 61, who landed m their boats 
 before the Chinefe town Katjie^ experienced in its fulleft 
 extent the efficacy of an eftabUfliment that does fo much 
 honour to mankind. Mr. Maule,' the fupercargo, who 
 likewife was one of the number, has aflured me, that they 
 \ were all received with the greateft humanity, maintained 
 
 at the emperor's expence, and conveyed in one of the 
 larger kind of Chinefe veiTels to the other Europeans at 
 <IIanton. 
 
 As in the preceding pages I have made mention of the 
 ftormy winters at the Cape, it may not be improper to give 
 here a fummary abftra6t of my meteorological obfervations 
 for the months of May, June, and July. With regard to the 
 temperature of the air I muft previoufly remind the reader, 
 that I made ufe of a Fahrenheit's thermometer, which was 
 given me by Dr. Forster at our parting; and that the 
 obfervations taken with it were made in the Ihade, in the 
 open air, between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, 
 when the temperature of the air was moft like that of the 
 night* I muft farther remark, that the winters at the 
 Cape are in general by no means fevere, and that this 
 winter was reckoned one of the mildeft. 
 
 Diu'ing the firft half of May the thermometer kept fluc- 
 tuating between 5 3 and 6 3 degrees ; and during the latter 
 half, between 50 and 58, excepting on the 27th of this 
 month, when it was at the loweft, or 49 f, although the 
 day was clear and the fun Ihorie. The rainy days in this 
 month were the nth, 12th, 15th, i6th, 30th; and 
 
 among
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 115 
 
 amon.^ thefe the three firft named were the worfl, and ac- ,^75- 
 
 *-* , ' March. 
 
 companied with tempelliious north-weft winds ; fo that when K^y^s^^ 
 I pafTed Zout Rivier on the 1 1 th, the water was no higher 
 than my horfe's knees ; but when I repaffed it on the 15th, 
 the water had rifen fo high, in confequence of the rain 
 and tide, as to reach np to my faddle. 
 
 In the month of June the thermometer was between 
 54 and 60. There was a fall either of fain or fnow on 
 the I ft, 2d, 3d, 4th, 14th, 27th, and fo on to the 31ft 
 inclufively. Befides thefe, there were a few other cloudy 
 days, attended with a high wind; but the remainder re- 
 fembled our fine fummer days in Sweden. On the 3d, it 
 rained very violently, when it happened that a quantity of 
 water which, in the preceding days, had been colle6led on 
 the mountain, burft its way down to the town; and filled 
 the canals there, at the fame time overflowing fome of 
 the ftreets ; fo that for feveral minutes, it rofe to the height 
 of two or three feet againft the houfes. It like wife wafti- 
 ed away a fmall wall belonging to a ftone houfe, and car- 
 ried it under the building, at the fame time rufhing into 
 divers cellars. i^ . 
 
 In July, by reafon of fome intervening aff'airs that hin- 
 dered me, I obferved the ftate of the weather only till the 
 19th; during that time, the thermometer kept between 
 54 and 59 degrees. The rainy days were the 6th, 7th, 
 8th, nth, 1 2th; clouds without rain on the 3d, 9th, 
 loth, 13th, and 14th, 
 
 Vol. L Q sect.
 
 114 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Preparations for the African Expedition, 
 
 1775. TOURING the major part of the winter months I Hved 
 \J^^ -L/ in the town itfelf, and at times made preparations 
 for my journey in feveral ways, among which might be 
 reckoned ray pradtifing phyiic and furgery; as what I ac- 
 quired by thefe means, was a great help towards equip- 
 ping me out in the expenlive manner my undertaking re- 
 quired. My travelling purfe was farther fortified by a 
 lucky fpeculation in commerce, and like wife with fixty 
 ducats (for which fum I had a right to draw a bill 
 for acceptance) for my Englifli tranflation of our able 
 Swedifh phyfician Van Rosentein's ^reatife on the Dif- 
 eafes of Children. This work I undertook and finiflied 
 in the lafl year of our cruifmg in the South Sea, moftly 
 in the rougher climates, as I at that time was the leaft 
 taken up with bufinefs of any other kind, except that 
 of writing; though even in this cafe I was not un- 
 frequently obliged, on account of the flormy weather, 
 to cling with my legs round the foot of the table, and 
 hold myfelf faft with one hand, in order to be able to 
 6 wTite
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. J15 
 
 write with the other. I take this opportunity of ac- ^775- 
 kiiowledging my obhgations to MefTrs. Forster for va- \Sy^ 
 rious alterations they were fo kind as to beftow on the 
 tranllation here alluded to, which my {lender knowledge 
 of the Englilh tongue made extremely neceflary ; as like- 
 wife for their taking care of the impreflion of it at London 
 in the year 1776. 
 
 With a view of rendering my intended journey more 
 agreeable and convenient, I made every poflibie enquiry 
 w here I could hear any thing concerning it ; but inftead 
 of gaining any ufeful intelligence, I was left more in 
 the dark than I was before, as mofl of the informa- 
 tion I could colledl was confufed and perplexed ; the va- 
 rious accounts I heard, being often contradictory to each 
 other, but ftill more frequently clafliing with probabi- 
 lity itfelf. I was chiefly diffuaded from the journey, as 
 being a very abfurd and dangerous undertaking, efpe- 
 cially as, being a ftranger, as yet unacquainted with 
 Africa, and far from rich, I mull necelTarily fubjeit 
 myfelf to every kind of inconvenience; but fince I faw 
 nothing impoffible in the affair, at leaft not in making 
 the experiment, I purfued my defign. With this view I 
 formed an acquaintance and even friendfliip with Mr. 
 Daniel Ferdinand Immelman, a young African, who 
 before this had, merely for the fake of pleafure, made 
 a little trip into the country, to which he was induced 
 by the following fpirited reflection : that it was very lit- 
 tle either to his honour or to that of the other Afri- 
 can colonifls, that they had negleCted invefligating their 
 own country, fo that they would foon be obliged to apj^ly to 
 
 Q 2 me
 
 ii6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^77^ me and other ftrangers, for intelligence concerning them- 
 
 iVIarch 
 
 \^^r*>^ felves and the very place of their refidence. For his own 
 part, he was eafily perfuaded to enter into all my defigns 
 and favour me with his company ; bnt we were obliged to 
 lay our heads together and fland firm by each other, in 
 order to get the permiffion of his relations. His mother, 
 a fenfible European lady, together with her lovely daugh- 
 ter, at length gave their confent, and principally on this 
 account, that young Immelman had very weak lungs, and 
 the befl remedy for him would be to take a long journey 
 on horfeback, efpecially as he had the advantage of being 
 accompanied by a phylician : and on the other hand, he 
 had reafon to fear a more certain and horrid death in 
 confequence of the complaint he laboured under, than 
 any thing that might be apprehended from the attacks 
 of the roving Hottentots or of the wild beafts up the 
 country. His father, an old experienced foldier, who 
 had ferved both in Europe and the Eaft-lndies, and was 
 then lieutenant in the garhfon at the Cape, at length 
 gave his confent on the principle, that a lad iiiould 
 never be fliy or backward, where there was any dan- 
 ger. For this purpofe Mr. Immelman provided hihifelf 
 with a good eafy nag, for which he gave fifty rix- 
 dollars ; I had already bought an ordinary galloway 
 for thirty-four, and a new baggage-waggon, about the 
 fize of the ammunition-waggons in Sweden, but covered 
 over with a tilt made of fail-cloth, and finifhed iii 
 the fame manner as thofe in which the peafants ufually 
 travel in this colony. The price of it was like wife 
 what was ufually given for thefe carriages, that is, about 
 
 two
 
 GAPE OF GOOD H a P E. 117 
 
 fwo hundred rixdollars, reckoning feventy-four for the ^77 5- 
 
 ' o y March. 
 
 wood-work, and eighty for the iron-work; the yoke, the L^-rv^ 
 hind chains, and thofe for the traces, the fail-cloth cover- 
 ing, and a box for the coom, made up the refl: of the 
 fum. To dra-v/ a waggon of this kind there are ufually 
 required five pair of oxen, v/hich I therefore bargained for 
 at eight rixdollars a head. I further took with me me- 
 dicines of feveral forts, as well for our own ufe, as for that 
 of the peafants, to whom they might be of great fervice, 
 and procure us a better reception. I likewife provided 
 myfelf vrith a fmall flock of glafs beads, brafs tinder-- 
 boxes, fleels for flriking fire with, and knives, together 
 with fome tobacco ; all thefe were commodities peculiarly 
 acceptable to the Hottentots. We likewife took with us 
 an oaken cafk, made for the purpofe of keeping ferpents 
 and other animals in brandy ; alfo feveral reams of paper 
 for drying plants, with leads and needles for infecfts, and 
 at the fame time fome necefiary changes of apparel. Nei- 
 ther did we forget to take with us plenty of tea, coiFee, 
 chocolate, and fugar, partly for our own ufe, and partly 
 to infinuate ourfelves into the good graces of the yeomen, 
 who, by reafon of the great diftanee they are at from the 
 Cape, are often without thefe necefiTaries. I was told in- 
 deed, that liquors would infallibly anfwer this purpofe 
 much better ; but the room they took up, their weight, 
 and the expence of them, prevented me from taking any 
 with me. We were well provided with needles of feveral 
 forts, as by means of thefe, and a few good words, we 
 fliould be enabled to gain the good graces of the farmer's 
 daughters, as v/ell as their afliftance in colledling infe6ls. 
 
 I bought"
 
 ii8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^775- I bought too thirty odd pounds of gunpowder, with a 
 ^ta-^-Nj fmall quantity of which we filled feveral horns, which we 
 kept near at hand ; the remainder we emptied into a 
 leathern bag, and locked it up in my cheft, by way of 
 keeping it out of the way of the lighted pipes of the 
 Hottentots. We took with us fliot of different fizes, about 
 feventy pound in weight, with a tolerable Hock of balls, 
 lead, and moulds for calling. It is certain, that the ex- 
 pence and quantity of this ammunition, was much more 
 than we were advifed to take with us, or than I myfelf 
 thought neceflary. On our return to the Cape, however, 
 after an eight month's journey, it was almofl all ufed. I 
 would therefore advife every body, who may hereafter 
 undertake an expedition of this kind, to flock themfelves 
 well with powder and fliot. Every fliot does not take 
 place, and not a little is expended in the fliooting of fmall 
 birds ; fome too mufl be fpent in fliooting at marks. Be- 
 fides, it may happen, as it did to me and my party, that 
 for feveral weeks together, one may have little elfe to live 
 upon than what falls before one's gun ; not to mention, 
 that prudence requires one to be prepared with ammuni- 
 tion againfl the hoflile attacks of the Bofliies-men and 
 Caffres. 
 
 As the colonills here are enjoined by the laws to feize 
 and bring to the Cape all fuch as travel about the country 
 without being able to fliew a permiflion in writing for 
 that purpofe, I therefore folicited and obtained the go- 
 vernor's pafs, requiring that I fhould pafs every where free 
 and unmoleftcd ; and at the fame time that the inhabitants 
 lliould afTifl me as far as lay in their power, on receiving 
 
 a rea- 
 
 I
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 119 
 
 a reafonable compenfation. In another letter, the people j^^Jv 
 belonging to the warm baths in Hottentots Holland were V^'vO 
 enjoined to find me in lodging ; for this remedy I was re- 
 folved to try againfl the rheumatic pains I experienced in 
 confequence of the cold, to which I had been expofed in 
 the Antarctic circle. 
 
 SECT-
 
 lii^ A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 July. 
 
 S E C T. Ill 
 
 Journey from the Cape to the Warm Bath. 
 
 ON the morning of the 25 th of July I rode from the 
 Cape. My waggon was driven by the boor, who 
 fold me the five pair of oxen before-mentioned. But this 
 I was not to have till I got to this fame man's farm near 
 Bott-Rivier^ which is in the way to the warm bath, whi- 
 ther I was going. There are no houfes of entertainment 
 €itabliflied in the inland part of this country ; fo that every 
 one is obliged to travel with their own horfes and carriages, 
 as well as their own provifion. Our road lay through the 
 low country over dry fand and heaths. In the middle, or 
 the warm part of the day, like other travellers in this 
 country, we let our oxen go to water and look out for 
 pafturage. Thefe animals are eafily fatisfied with the poor 
 nourifliment of the dry fhrubs and grafs, which are moft 
 common about the Cape, but the horfes are under a greater 
 difficulty to find provifion fufficiently fine and nourifhing. 
 It is chiefly for this reafon, that in Africa mofl of the 
 beafts of burden they ufe are oxen ; and it is, perhaps, 
 from the fame caufe, that the horfes here are feem- 
 ingly lefs ftrong and hardy than they are m Europe. 
 
 As
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 121 
 
 As foon as the cool of the evening came on, we con- ["^ys- 
 
 •=» ' July. 
 
 tiaued our journey over EerJIe Rivier to the foot of a high v^^-o 
 mountain, called Hottentot HoUand''s Kloof, The environs 
 here were higher and lefs parched up than in the former part 
 of our journey, and were helides adorned with feveral pleafant 
 farms. It was already night, and as dark as pitch, when we 
 alighted ; we made a little fire, by which, after we had finifli- 
 ed a moderate fupper, we went to fleep. All the convenien- 
 cies I had for fleeping were at prefent, as well as during the 
 major part of my journey, reduced to the bare ground for a 
 bal, a faddle for my pillow, and a great coat to cover me 
 from the cold of the night ; for a place to lie in we looked 
 out for the fide of fome bufli, which feemed moft likely 
 to flielter us from the fouth-eail, or any other wind that 
 might chance to blow at that time. When it rained, we 
 lay in the tilt-waggon itfelf. Here, on account of our 
 baggage, we were ftill worfe off. The bell: place I could 
 find for myfelf was my chefl, though even that had a 
 round top ; Mr. Immelmax, being {lender and lefs than 
 me, was able, though not without great difficulty, to 
 fqueeze him^felf in between my cheit and the body of the 
 waggon, where he lay on feveral bundles of paper : he 
 had, however, no reafon to boall: of a m.uch eafier bed. 
 Sometimes we made our bed under the waggon, where, 
 being under cover, we were fomewhat flieltered indeed 
 from the rain and the dew ; but on the other hand, had 
 rather too near, and not quite fo agreeable neighbours in 
 our oxen, which were tied up to the wheels and poles, and 
 2lfo to the rails of the w^aggon, and were fo obftreperous, 
 that we could only venture to creep among the gentleft of 
 Vol. I. R them,
 
 122 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 *775' them. Thefe companions of ours were moreover very reft- 
 ^^Jy\J lefs, when any wild beafts were near the fpot. Again^ 
 when we had an opportunity of taking a night's lodging 
 at a peafant's houfe, we were for the moft part rather 
 worfe lodged. In moft places the houfe confifted of two 
 rooms only, with the floor of earth or loam. The interior 
 one of thefe was ufed for a bed-chamber for the boor him- 
 felf, with his wife and children. The outer one compofed 
 the kitchen, in a corner of which they fpread a mat for 
 us on the floor ; and in this generally confifted all the 
 conveniencies the good folks could aftbrd us. As for the reft 
 we were obliged to make our beds of our faddles and great 
 coats^ together with a coverlet we brought with us. The 
 Hottentots of either fex, young and old, who were in the 
 boor's fervice, always chofe to fleep in the chimney. This 
 moftly took up a whole gabel of the houfe, and at the 
 fame time had no other hearth than the floor,, on which 
 confequently we all lay pigging together.. An hoft of fleas 
 and other inconveniencies, to which we were by this means 
 fubjedted, made us frequently rather chufe to fleep in the 
 open air; in cafe the coldnefs of the air,, high winds and 
 rainy weather, did not make it more difagreable to us. 
 I thought the beft way of furnifliing my readers with a 
 general idea of the manner in which we were obHged to 
 pafs moft of our nights during our expedition, would be to 
 to give them an account of my firft night's lodging. 
 
 The next day being the 26th, we got up by day-break,, 
 in order to take our journey over Hottentots Holland's- 
 Mountain^ in the cool of the morning. The way up it was 
 very fteep, ftony, winding, and, in other refpedls, very 
 
 8 incoHr
 
 CAPE OF GOOD H O P*E. 123 
 
 inconvenient. Diredlly to the rieht of the road there was '/?S' 
 -a i>erpendicmar precipice, down which, it is faid, that wag- S^rvJ 
 gons and cattle together have fometimes the misfortune to 
 fall headlong, and are dallied to pieces. It is faid too, that 
 in order to drive up this and other mountains of the kind, 
 even with the ftrongefl team of oxen, a man mull not only 
 have the knack, as it is called, and a perfedt government of the 
 beads, but mull alio at the fame time make ufe of a whip 
 like that of the African waggoners. Thefe whips are fif- 
 teen feet long, with a thong fomewhat longer, and a lafli 
 three feet in length, made of flout white leather. This 
 (in a certain fenfe) mod powerful inflrument in getting the 
 waggon forward, the driver holds with both hands, and, 
 fitting on the feat of the carriage, can reach the fifth pair 
 with it, and at the fame time fmack his whip, when ne- 
 cefTary, and diflribute his cuts and lafiies among the oxen 
 without intermifiion, never failing to touch them on the 
 very fpot he wiflies, fo diat the very hairs come away with 
 the whip. By this means he pofieffes fuch an afcendency 
 over them, as to oblige them to join their llrength all at 
 once, and pull the waggon out of deep pits, or lift it over 
 large flones and precipices that lie in the road. But it 
 requires a great nicety of attention, not to drive them too 
 far at once, nor to reft them too long at a time ; as in the 
 former cafe they grow faint, weary, and, in confequence 
 of this, reftive ; and in the latter cafe, they lofe the 
 fpirit to which they have been previoufly wrought up, 
 and which is neceflary for the getting them on ; and for 
 want of which it often happens, that the waggon cannot 
 he got from the fpot. On going up the deeper hills, 
 
 B. 2 there-
 
 X24 A VOYAGE TO TH2 
 
 ^775- therefore, the drivers are wont to let them breathe a lit- 
 
 July. 
 
 ^y^rU tie every half minute, minute, or two minutes, as occafion 
 requires : on the other hand, in defcending, even when 
 the road is not very fteep, particularly with a load, it is to 
 be feared, left the waggoii fliould get down before the 
 oxen, or tumble upon them, as only the hindmoft pair is 
 put into the fliafts, and are not able to hold back as much 
 as is neceffary : the waggon muft therefore be locked, as 
 they term it ; this confifts in winding a chain that is 
 faftencd to the. fore part of the waggon, one or more times 
 round fome of the fellies of the hind wheel, and then, 
 with a hook that hangs to the other end of the chain, 
 hooking it into one of the links. Down ftill fteeper hills, 
 as for inftance, fuch as that we were now afcending, both 
 the hind wheels are locked, and fometimes one of the fore- 
 wheels into the bargain, efpecially in rainy weather, when 
 it is llippery. In default of a drag-chain, the wheel is 
 laflied faft to the feat of the waggron, and in this manner 
 the waggon is dragged down the hill ; but in order that 
 the loweft fellies of the wheel that is to be locked may not 
 be worn, together with the iron-work round it, a kind of 
 fledge carriage, hollowed out in the infide, and called a 
 lockfhoe, is fitted to it. This is a foot and a half in length, 
 and made with hard wood \ underneath it is generally fliod 
 with iron, and neareft refembles a trough, which is opea 
 behind for the wheel to run into. It is two or three inches 
 deep in order to fupport the wheel with its edges, and hin- 
 der it from flipping out; in the fore part of it there is a 
 flout ftrap, with which it is faflened or ftrung upon, the 
 back chain. I am not ignorant, that in the north we ufe 
 
 ice-
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 12^ 
 
 r-77 
 
 ice-liooks, or fafety-hooks, to our fledge carriages ; but, at "^/v 
 lealt, as far I know of, we have no drag-chains to our wag- v^n^w' 
 gons. This would be highly neceiTary in certain places, 
 and particularly in the fpring, and might be eafily made. 
 Befides obviating the danger of the cattle running away 
 with the team, this machine likewife prevents their being 
 bruifed in any other ways, or hurt by holding back, when 
 they are going down hill. Under the general denomina- 
 tion of moznUain, particularly about this fpot, I mean, not 
 only high rocky hills, but likewife comprehend under this 
 name all the more coniiderable eminences (more or lefs 
 rock) as well as the ridges compofed of them. 
 
 But to return to the Hottentots Holland's Mountain^ as it 
 is called. It was as yet very bare of plants. However, I 
 had the pleafure of finding a fuperb protea in full bloom. 
 It was this that I have defcribed and given a drawing of in 
 the Swedifli Philofophical Tranfa6lions for 1777, page 5 3> 
 under the name of Guflavus's Scepter, Flora, by confe- 
 crating this beautiful fpecies to fo glorious and augufl a 
 name, perpetuates the memory of her improvement and 
 augmentation (fo honourable for our northern climate) by 
 means of the protecftion, which the fcience of botany has 
 enjoyed under the great kings of the Gustavian race ; and 
 at the fame time implies a wifli, that under our mofl gra- 
 cious king GusTAVus III. the Scepter may flill continue 
 to flourilli. 
 
 This protea is a fhrub from two to four feet in height, 
 which fometimes grows up undivided as flrait as a rod, and 
 at other times throws out two or three fpiral branches, 
 terminating in tufts of fiawers of a filver colour. What h 
 
 moft
 
 126 ^ A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 i77v niofl remarkable in this plant is, its producing two forts of 
 ijj^^l^ leaves totally different from each other, viz. while the up- 
 per ones on the ftalk are from one to two inches long only, 
 wedge-fhaped and undivided, the lower ones are feveral 
 inches long, and divided into many parts in the form of 
 branches. 
 
 The road on the north fide of Hottentots Holland's Moun- 
 tain was not near fo fleep, yet we were obliged at inter- 
 vals to lock one of the wheels. All this part of the coun- 
 try, that lies on this or the north fide of the above- 
 mentioned mountain, is by the inhabitants commonly call- 
 ed Agter de Berg, or Over de Berg. By noon we came to 
 Palmite Rivier, where it runs through a beautiful little 
 plain. Here, according to our ufual cullom, we baited 
 during the heat of the day. As not a iingle bridge is to 
 be found over any flream or river in all Africa, and ferry- 
 boats are eftabliflied only at two places, we were obliged 
 to crofs over at this part in water four feet in depth, which 
 reached quite up to my faddle. Though the rivers in thofe 
 places, where they crofs the public roads, are generally 
 not deep, yet this method of palling them is fometimes 
 dangerous as well as tedious ; for after one or more days 
 rain, efpecially in winter, it often happens, that one is 
 obliged to flay a week or a fortnight, and fometimes longer, 
 before the water is fallen enough for one to venture to pafs 
 it ; and that in places where, at other times, (particularly 
 in fummer) one may almoft go over dry-fliod ; and though 
 the water Ihould afterwards fall in fome meafure, one can- 
 not neverthelefs venture with any fafety to go over as 
 ufual, for fear that the flood fliould have formed fome 
 
 inequa-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 127 
 
 inequalities there, or elfe have made the bed deeper by wafh- '775- 
 ing away the earth. Some more defperate and fool-hardy ^^yx/ 
 peafants, who are impatient at waiting fo long for the falling 
 of the water, or who have fo fmall a flock of provilion 
 as not to be able to make any long flay, are venturefome 
 enough to fwim their waggons over, fo that the water will 
 rife above the middle of the body of the carriage : and 
 though their wives, children, and the baggage they have 
 with them, fliould undergo a good foufing, it makes no 
 great difference to them. The flave, or the Hottentot^ 
 whom, as they do not make ufe of reins, they are unavoid- 
 ably obliged to employ for the purpofe of leading the fore* 
 mod pair of oxen through the mofl dangerous places, mufl 
 in fuch cafes fwim with them in his hand ; and a lucky 
 thing it is for the mafler, if the whim does not take them 
 to follow the flream, or turn, about,, or play any other 
 tricks.. Thefe animals, however, when they are well broke 
 in, will at any time all fland flill together on their driver's 
 gently calling to them Ho, Ha ; and fo in like manner each 
 ox in particular will pay attention, and go to the right or to 
 the left, merely upon hearing its own name pronounced 
 w ith a Hote or a Haar added to it ; and with this amuling, 
 GX-language, and the names of the beafts brought in oc- 
 cafionally, not to mention the noify cracks of the whip,, 
 the traveller mufl lay his account in being continually en- 
 tertained, particularly in fuch parts of the road, in which this 
 pracSlice is more peculiarly necefTary in order to get them on. 
 Add to this, the nice attention requifite in order to make 
 lafe of the whip not only frequently, but at proper times 
 and feafons ; and it follows, that the bufinefs of waggon- 
 driving
 
 128 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 775- drivine in. Africa, is as difficult and tirefome an occupatidn,* 
 
 July. '-' 
 
 Co-O as this mode of travelling is noiiy, inconvenient, and dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 Very late in the evening we arrived at onr driver's 
 farm, which was very pleafantly fituated on the other fide 
 of Bott Riviej\ This river was belet at fmall intervals 
 ^^ ith pretty high mountains, the peaks and ridges of which 
 delightfully varied the fcene. In the declivities of fome 
 of them caverns and grottos were feen, which certainly 
 did not exiil from the beginning, but were produced by 
 
 ^ the viciffitudes and changes to vsdiich all natural objects 
 
 are fubjedf. Even the hard and fteep rocky precipices, 
 which one would imagine to be doomed to everlalliing 
 nakednefs, were, on their black walls, teeming with iron- 
 ore, adorned with feveral climbing plants, the branches and 
 tendrils of which they gratefully in return with their 
 fliarply-proje^ling angles, llretched out and fupported. In 
 the clefts of thefe declivities I obferved the plants, which 
 nature had produced on thefe elevated hot-beds, already in 
 bloom, and which, in their pride, might bid defiance to 
 all human approach. A few Hones throw from this farm 
 there was a mineral water of confiderable flrength, which 
 nobody in this quarter had had the fenfe to make ufe of. 
 The Hones and rocks in feveral fpots hereabouts contained 
 a great deal of iron. 
 
 Along this river lay many peafants houfes and farms, 
 the produce of which conlifted chiefly of flieep and corn. 
 The wine that was made here was a four wafli, which 
 would not fell in the town without being firft converted 
 into vinegar and brandy. The peafants themfelves, how- 
 ever,
 
 ! 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 129 
 
 ever, drank it greedily jufl as it was. The caufe of the Itjs- 
 inferior quahty of this wine, as well as of moft of that made *^-r^ 
 at JgUr de Berg, proceeds from the greater coldnels of the 
 foil ; which again depends on the diftance of this country 
 from the fea, and confequently from the fertilizing vapours 
 of that element ; but chiefly upon the elevation of this dif- 
 tri6t above the fea's furface. After flaying a day at this 
 place, we made a trip to the warm baths. I left my wag- 
 gon here till I fliould have occafion for it, and went on 
 horfeback, in comj^any with another waggon that was going 
 to the fame place. In order to go by a nearer way, we did 
 not take any beaten road, but made the beft of our way 
 forward over plains, hills, and dales. The whole of this 
 extenlive tradt was, by reafon of the defe6t of water, left 
 uncultivated and uninhabited. A great number of deer 
 and other game had taken refuge here. I now, for the firft 
 time, had the pleafure of feeing herds, confifling of the two 
 largefl forts of antilopes or gazellsj which are called by the 
 Dutch hartheejis 2X\.^ bunteboh \ the former name, which 
 Signifies bart-beaji, was probably given to the former of thefe 
 creatures on account of fome refemblance they fliewed in co- 
 lour to the European harts ; and the latter, which fignifies 
 painted, or rather pied goats, fuits better with thefe latter ani- 
 mals, their orange-yellow or pale-brown pofteriors being 
 marked with a number of white fpots and ftreaks. The 
 hartbeeji I have defcribed in the Memoirs of the SwediHi Aca- 
 demy of Sciences for 1779, P^§^ 1 5 1 5 ^7 ^^^^ name of ant Hope- 
 dorcas : it is likewife given here in Vol. II. plate I. fig. i . being 
 frequently mentioned in the courfe of the follo^^ ing pages. 
 The huntebock, fomething lefs, but more corpulent in pro-' 
 Vol. L S portion
 
 I.30 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^'7^- portion than the hartbeeft-i is the ant Hope fcrlpta of Pal- 
 O'YxJ LAS, and the ^2//^ of Buff ON, page 305 — 327. plate XL. 
 According to Adanson, it is very common at Senegal. I 
 will add, that the females of this fpecies have no horns. 
 The fame day I like wife faw, for the firft time, whole 
 troops of wild zebras^ called by the colonifts ivilde paarderiy 
 or wild horfes. They were feen in large herds, and ap- 
 peared very beautiful in their flriped black and white livery. 
 It is the fkins of thefe that are generally fold at our fur- 
 riers (liops by the abfurd name oifea-borfe hides. 
 
 OJlrlches^ or the birds whofe feathers our luxury brings 
 from the remotefl plains of Africa, I likewife faw to-day in 
 their wild ftate, at the fouthernmofl promontory of this quar- 
 ter of the globe. I fometimes came within a couple of gun- 
 fliots of fome of them, infomuch that I took it into my head 
 to purfue them, but always without fuccefs. With their 
 long legs and huge ilrides, they fcoured away as fafl again 
 as the untutored horfe and hunter could follow. They 
 ran always with their wings extended, probably by way of 
 preferving their balance ; for they are not able in the leaft 
 to raife their heavy bodies from the ground. I have fince 
 been told, that it is impoilible for any man, even when 
 mounted on the beft hunter, to catch them at firll fetting 
 off, but that in a few minutes they will bound out of fight. 
 The hunter muft, notwithftanding, keep on his courfe, but 
 at times fpare his horfe, by keeping him from galloping too 
 fafl, till fuch time as he can fee the oflrich again from the 
 top of fome hill ; the bird in the mean time having run 
 itfelf down, and afterwards growing fomewhat cool, and 
 confequently fliff in its joints, has much ado to efcape; and 
 
 never
 
 t C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 131 
 
 never fails, at lead after the third courfe, either to be taken ^775- 
 alive, or elfe to receive his death from the fportfman's gun. V^^'vO 
 In the like manner I chafed and fliot at the antilopes be- 
 fore fpoken of in vain ; thefe animals having a peculiar 
 cuftom of Handing ftill at intervals during their flight, to 
 flare at their purfuers a little, and wait for their coming up. 
 This property, however, is not, as fome imagine, either pe-- 
 culiar to the genus of antilopes, or common to all the fpecies 
 of it ; for I have feen buffaloes and wild affes {quaggas) fome- 
 times make a fland in the fame manner : on the other 
 hand, fome of the fmaller kinds of antilopes, as Jleenhoks^ 
 klip-fpringers^ riet-reebocks, and hofchboh^ run without 
 flopping, till they are out of the hunter's Ught. The Cape 
 elks {antilope oryx) of which I have likewife given a de- 
 fcription in the Swedifli Tranfa6lions, are faid, on ac- 
 count of the great demand there is for their flefli and 
 hides, to be already extirpated from this part of the 
 country ; and as foon as any others come from the inner 
 diflridls, they are fhot dire6lly, being in much greater re- 
 queil, as well as eafier to hunt, than the hartbeejls, 
 Tov/ards evening we came out upon a road, which carried 
 us by two farms, and at lafl, about dufk, to the warm 
 bath, Juil before we got thither, w"e had left a road on 
 the left hand, which, we were told, led to Roodezand^ 
 Roggcveldy Bokveld^ and Sneeberg, The ground we l>ad 
 ^one over that day, was reckoned four hours on horfeback ; 
 and, as it appeared to me, was about four Swediili, or twen- 
 ty-three Englifh miles. We had now been above feven hours 
 driving at an even pace over this piece of road. The 
 way of meafuring ground at the Cape, which is computed 
 
 S 2 by
 
 132 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- by time, cannot be otherwife than uncertain and variable; 
 v.^^'Yv^ too much fo, indeed, to be collated with our method of 
 reckoning by miles. An hour upon a hilly road, muft ne- 
 cefTarily be iliorter than an hour upon a level one. The 
 reader, therefore, mufl not expe6t a perfe6l geometrical 
 accuracy in my map, it being laid down only from my 
 own obfervations with a compafs, and the accounts I got 
 from others. In the mean time, however, it is the only 
 one that exifls, and may probably be of no fmall affiftance 
 in the framing of others that may be made hereafter. In 
 general, the uur^ or an hour on the road, is reckoned as much 
 as a man can ride on a round trot, or a common hand-gal- 
 lop in that fpace of time, and is conlidered as being equal to 
 the diflance which a man is able to drive a waggon with 
 oxen in two hours ; though even thefe on a plain level road, 
 and with a lighter load than they generally draw, will go al- 
 mofl as fail a trot, and in the fame proportion for other paces, 
 as one ufually rides on horfeback. Four fuch hours with a 
 horfe, or with eight oxen, are reckoned to make one Jkoft. 
 This is as much as they ufually drive with a load in a day, or 
 in the fpace of twelve hours, as fometimes they bait once 
 on the road. The peafants that live farther up in the 
 country, and have a long way to travel, are provided with 
 a fpare fet of oxen or two, which they make ufe of by 
 turns, and in this manner are able to drive day and night, 
 or X.\NO Jkofts (i. e. eight horfe-hours) in the twenty-four 
 natural hours. Now as thofe who live a good way up in 
 the country take fourteen, and fometimes twenty and odd 
 days, befides a day or two for rcfting, to carry their goods 
 in this manner to the Cape, and fomcwhat lefs time to 
 
 return
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 133 
 
 return in, it may eafily be conceived, tiiat thev do not Ipare the ^/75- 
 poor creatures in the leaft ; one may fee them often enough C-^rO 
 driven puffing and blowing with their tongues hanging a 
 good way out of their mouths; and one plainly perceives, 
 that but little time is allowed them for relling, and flill 
 lefs for feeking their food : now and then, indeed, they are 
 able to fill their belUes with grafs, flirubs, and water, but 
 have fcarcely time to chew the cud. It is from this caufe 
 likewife, that from having been, as it were, almoft choked 
 with fat, they grow quite lean on fuch a journey as this ; 
 though, by the time that they take another journey next 
 year to the Gape, they may poffibly, efpecially fuch as dur- 
 ing that period are not much worked, get into as good 
 plight as before, on their ufual paflure, which they have 
 in great abundance. 
 
 As I have jull been treating of the manner of travelling 
 at the Cape, I mufi: here farther add, that throughout all 
 this colony oxen are never put into a team, fo as to draw 
 with their horns, but with their flioulders only, one yoke 
 being ufed for each pair of oxen, which in the mortifes 
 with which it is faflened round their necks, has notches 
 for putting on and taking off the head-harncfs. The yoke 
 belonging to the hindmoft pair is faflenccl by its middle 
 part to the pole of the waggon ; and thofe belonging to 
 the reft have a rope, ftrap or chain, running through 
 them, which by this means is ftretched out equally be- 
 tween all the cattle. Perhaps this manner of harneffing 
 their oxen, which feems to leave them fo much at liberty 
 to move about, without giving them an opportunity of 
 making ufe of the ftrength they have in their horns, will 
 
 account
 
 134 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- account for fuch long journies being made with oxen fo 
 
 July. cf ^ <~> 
 
 v,^rO expeditioully in Africa ; and likewife on the other hand, 
 for their being obliged to make life of ten or twelve beafts 
 to one waggon or plough. Mr. Arthur Young, in 
 his " T'our through Irelandy' in the years 1776, 77, 78, 
 has made mention of an experiment to this purpofe, 
 which has given rife to this conje6lure of mine, for 
 which reafon I thought it neceflary to quote the paflage 
 here. 
 
 " Lord Shannon, upon going into tillage, found that 
 the expence of horfes was fo great, that it eat up all the 
 profit of the farm, which made him determine to ufe 
 bullocks ; he did it in the common method of yokes and 
 bows, but they performed fo indifferently, and with fuch 
 manifefl uneafinefs, that he imported the French method 
 of drawing by the horns ; and in order to do this effec- 
 tually, he wrote to a perfon at Bourdeaux to hire him a 
 man who was pracSlifed in that method. Upon the cor- 
 refpondent being applied to, he reprefented difficulties 
 attending it, the man who was fpoken to having been in 
 Germany for the fame purpofe. Upon which Lord Shan- 
 non gave directions, that every thing fliould be bought 
 and fent over which the labourer wifhed to bring 
 with him. Accordingly a bullock of the befl fort, that 
 had been worked three years, was purchafed ; alfo a 
 hay-cart, a plough, and all the tackling for harnefiing 
 them by the horns. — In my prefence, his Lordfhip order- 
 ed the French harveft-cart to be loaded half a mile from 
 the ricks ; it was done, one thoufand and twenty fheafs 
 were laid on it, and two oxen drew it without difficulty. 
 
 We 
 
 ^Hl
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 135 
 
 We then weighed forty fheafs, the weight two hundred r^>- 
 
 ^ July. 
 
 and fifty-one pounds, at which rate the one thoufand and V^v^J 
 twenty came to fix thoufand three hundred and feventy- 
 five pounds, or above three tons, which is a vafl weight 
 for two oxen to draw. I am very much in doubt, whether 
 in yokes they would have ftirred the cart fo loaded," (Page 
 409, Vol. I. — See likewife page 380.) 
 
 S E C T^.
 
 13^ A VOYAGE to the 
 
 S E C T. IV. 
 
 Refulence at the Warm Bath, 
 
 1775- '■■ I ■ ^ H E warm bath, which we now arrived at, is called 
 vJ^IyZyj A Hottentots Holland's Bath^ from the name of the dif- 
 tri6l in which it is lituated ; for the fame reafon it was 
 likewife frequently called the Bath over or behind the 
 mountain, and fometimes too Tzer-Baad, as this is fup- 
 pofed to contain more iron than any other bath in the co- 
 lony. It is likewife looked upon to be better furnillied 
 with conveniencies than any of the others. A ftone houfe 
 has been built here by order of government for the ac- 
 commodation of the company at the bath. This confills of 
 a hall, two large chambers, a kitchen, and a little chamber, 
 all with earthen floors. The fmall chamber is inhabited 
 by the poji-majier, as he is called, or the overfeer of the 
 bath, fo that there are, properly fpeaking, only the two 
 large chambers for the guefts, who fometimes arrive in a 
 greater number than can be lodged in that narrow fpace. 
 In this cafe they are obliged to difpofe of themfelves as well 
 as they can in the hall, in the loft, or elfe in tents and 
 tilt-waggons, which they bring with them for that pur- 
 pofe. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 137 
 
 The ftone building above-mentioned, is run up againft the y^7 >• 
 dedivity of a hill, without any kind of fewer or dyke ; hence ^^*^r^ 
 it comes to pafs, that the water making its way into one of 
 the chambers, renders it very damp and unhealthy ; and it 
 is ftill more fo, when they are obliged to put feveral beds 
 and fick people together. By the lift that the overfeer of 
 the bath has kept there for feveral years paft, I found, 
 that from one hundred and fifty to two hundred perfons 
 ufe the bath yearly. But at the cold and inconvenient fea- 
 fon when I was there, there were only eight people bath- 
 ing, and even thefe were but fcurvily entertained. The 
 few miferable benches, and the table that we found here, 
 w^ere the property of the old man at the bath, and accord- 
 ingly we wxre obliged to hire them of him. 
 
 At the diftance of about a hundred paces from the dwel- 
 ling-houfe, is the bathing-houfe. This is a cottage, two 
 fides of which are for the greater part under ground, and 
 into which the light enters only by a few fmall peep- ' 
 holes. The length of this cottage is from three and a half 
 to four fathoms, and its breadth a fathom and a half. At 
 one end of it there is a ciftern or pit, a fathom and a half 
 fquare, and two feet deep. The warm water is brought a 
 httle way under ground from its fource, till it comes out 
 from above into one of the gables of the houfe, where it 
 afterwards runs through an open channel one fathom in 
 length, from which it comes pouring down into the ciftern 
 in a ftream an inch thick. By this contrivance, indeed, 
 the expence of ftone and brick-work is faved, but then 
 probably an opportunity is given to the moft fubtile and 
 efficacious particles to fly oft'. 
 
 Vol. I. T The
 
 138 A VOYAGE TO TH5 
 
 »775- The method of bathing is, for the patient to fit or lay 
 
 C^^ himfelf down in the cifkern, till the water is up to his 
 chin. The water then feels quite warm without fcalding, 
 and a kind of fugillation from the internal to the external 
 parts of the body is obferved. The velocity of the pulfe ia 
 increafed, as well as that of the pulfation of the heart. In fa 
 Ihort a fpace of time as eight or ten minutes, and fome- 
 times even before that period, a deliquium appears to be 
 coming on. It is therefore by no means advifeable to be 
 alone, for fear of fwooning in the bath, and being drown- 
 ed. Such unfortunate accidents are faid fometimes to have 
 really happened. At length, when the patient gets out 
 of the water, he lays himfelf at the other end of the 
 room to fweat in the clothes he has brought with him for 
 this purpofe. If he then drinks fome of the warm wa- 
 ter, he gets fo much the ealier into a fweat. As foon as 
 this is over, or at leaft diminifhed, the patient wafhes him- 
 felf as quickly as poflible in the bath, in order to be dry fo 
 much the fooner, before he puts on his clothes. Some 
 people bathe and fweat in the manner here mentioned at 
 two different times, one immediately after the other, and 
 find no bad effedls from it. The ciftern may be emptied, 
 by turning a cock between each perfon's bathing, if re- 
 quired. 
 
 Hardly a mile and a half from hence there is a farm, 
 where the company at the bath fometimes lodge ; but find 
 this rather inconvenient, on account of the diflance. The 
 patients bathe, as defcribed above, moftly once or twice a 
 day, very feldom three times ; at leafi, fuch as intend to 
 purfue this method of cure for any length of time. 
 
 A few
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 139 
 
 A few paces from this bath there are two others, which '77s- 
 are nothing more than pits into which the warm water v*-^vO 
 flows, covered in by hovels made of hurdles. Of thefe, 
 the one is cooler and the other warmer than that which I 
 firil defcribed ; both of them are made ufe of only by 
 flaves and Hottentots. In this part of the country there 
 are two other wells without any flielter, but they are not 
 ufed, though one of them has the ftrongeft fpring of any, 
 and is neareft to the main building. At the diflance of 
 about fifty paces from and below the warm wells or bath- 
 ing-places, there lies in the dale I have defcribed a well of 
 cold water, very pure to the tafte. The contents and 
 temperature of the warm bath I cannot very accurately 
 determine, partly on account of my thermometer beino* 
 not graduated high enough for this purpofe, and partly 
 by reafon that I was in want of many neceiTary helps, as 
 well with regard to drugs as veflels ; for the mafter of the 
 bath's, brandy-glafs excepted, I had nothing here fit for the 
 purpofe, but the two drinking-glafles I brought with me, 
 the people here ufually drinking the water of the well out 
 of ladles. 
 
 So that the only experiments that I had an opportunity 
 of making are the following : 
 
 A folution of fugar of lead feemed to precipitate a foul 
 flimy matter. 
 
 K folution oi Jilver tinged the water of an opal colour, 
 and at length precipitated a little white powder to the 
 bottom. 
 
 Oil of tartar per deliqmi<m,pTeci^i\:Q,tGd fcarcely any thing. 
 
 T a LithargCy
 
 July 
 
 140 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 1775- Litharge, fal ammoniac <i lacmusy and fyrup of violets, 
 
 each of them feparately digeifted with the water, exhibit- 
 ed no change in their colour. 
 
 Pozvder of gall-apples digefted with the water, while it 
 preferved its natural warmth, produced a brown colour, 
 as our mineral waters do in Sweden, and this colour was 
 durable ; 
 
 digefted with the water, after it 
 
 had flood to cool in the glafs, fcarcely gave any tinge 
 to it ; 
 
 digefted with water boiled, fcarce- 
 ly tinged it in the leaft. 
 
 Ocbj-e had fettled in great quantities in the ciftern and 
 conduits. 
 
 The water Jhaken in bottles with narrow necks, gene- 
 rated a great number of air-bubbles. 
 
 Lime-water did not produce any hepatic air, but form- 
 ed feveral fmall clouds in the warm water, which foon 
 collected into one without falling to the bottom. It muft 
 be obferved, however, that the lime-water I made ufe of 
 for this purpofe, was not fufficiently to be depended upon. 
 I was obliged to prepare fome myfelf from lime that was 
 fomewhat Hacked, and a quantity of water, which, for want 
 of a better apparatus, I diftilled by means of feveral tea- 
 kettles joined together. 
 
 Silver that had lain long in the water, difcovered no 
 tokens of the prefence of fulphur. 
 
 It is generally reported of this water, that it t.aftes of 
 brimftone ; but in fa6t, no fuch mineral is to be difcover-> 
 ed in it, either by the tafte or fmeU ; the tafte predomi- 
 nant
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 141 
 
 nant in this water being very fenlibly vitriolic, and not '775 • 
 fulphiireous, Notwitliilianding this, the water is pretty vjr^-o 
 eafy of digedion, and does not lit heavy on a tolerably 
 good ftomach. As here is hardly ever any opportunity of 
 confuiting a phylician, this bath is ufed without any other 
 method or indication than what correfponds with the ca- 
 price, or fuits the convenience of the patient; confequent- 
 ly, without any regular order, without the leaft attention 
 to diet, or any diftin6tion of diforders, of which I fliall give 
 the following inftance. A flave had fo far got the better 
 of an epidemical diftemper, with which he had been af- 
 fii6led, that nature was perfedling the cure by throwing 
 out biles on the furface of his body ; notwithftanding 
 which he was fent from Z'uoellenda?n<, by the lord lieute- 
 nant of that diftri6l, to the bath here, as being a never- 
 failing remedy. In vain did I order him to refrain entire- 
 ly from bathing, when the greateft man in the place had 
 commanded him to do it. A few hours from the time 
 of the poor fellow's firft bathing, delivered him from his 
 biles and bondage at oncei ^ o^ b3Q 
 
 The company at the wells wxre in general not at all 
 nice with regard to the time of day for bathing, and did 
 not hefitate to go into the bath diredlly after meals ; and 
 though this was fometimes really done without any remark- 
 able bad confequences enfuing, yet it was much to^ be fear- 
 ed, that the food which the patient had juft before taken, 
 fhovild be too fuddenly thrown into the mafs of blood. 
 From all the accounts I could collect, it was not unufual 
 for rhenmatifms and contradlions of the limbs to be en-^ 
 tirely removed in three or four days, by the life of the 
 
 warm
 
 1^2 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^775- warm bath ; but i^i the 2;o\it it is by jio means a peculiarly 
 
 July. ' . cj .. 
 
 K^r^^ powerful ren:i(?dy. It, is fometimes of ufe in eruptions 
 :\ncl malignant, ulcers, but at other times has not the leafl 
 effecl.in thefe diforciers. A girl who was now ufing the 
 bath for the fecond year for her leg that was violently 
 fwelled and affe6led with profound ulcers, and in the mean 
 time had poulticed it \^'ith the bruifed leaves of mallows 
 and other plants, had obtained no relief; I therefore dif- 
 fuaded her from ufing either the bath or the leaves, as be- 
 ing of too irritating a nature, and ordered her to ufe a 
 falve made of wax and honey, partly on account of its 
 being eafy to be procured, and partly becaufe I knew by 
 experience, that it could do no harm, and might do good. 
 By this remedy the ulcer was healed very fuddenly beyond 
 all expe6lation, and the fwelling went down b'y degrees. 
 A man bathed here for an old inveterate ulcer in his leg> 
 without any efFe6t ; but it fliould be obferved by the bye> 
 that he got drunk almoft every day. A' woman had a 
 hard lump in one of her breafts, bigget than a man's fift.- 
 As bathing alone feemed to be of. no fervice:in this cafe, 
 I made her rub the indurated, tumoilr with a little mercu- 
 rial ointment ; by which means, in fa6l, one half of it dif- 
 appeared in the fpace of two days ; but the remainder was 
 not in the lealt acTted upon, either by the ointment or the 
 bath. This good woman was at that very time, without 
 knowing it, in that iituation, that a few months after 
 bathing fhe was brought to bed. The child, which was 
 quite lively and hearty, had received no damage from the 
 mother's bathing. A butcher was now ufing the bath for 
 the third month, for, an inveterate ulcer in his/ieg, but 
 
 without
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 U3 
 
 without any peculiar advantage ; though I was acquainted ^75- 
 with a magiHrate, who at this place in a fliort time got rid V^y^O 
 of a bad ulcer in his leg, for which he had long tried in 
 vain every remedy that could be thought of. 
 
 A young Madagafcar Have, who had an inveterate ulcer 
 in his leg of three years ftanding and two inches broad, 
 was fent to the warm bath under my care, on condition 
 that I iliould make ufe of him as my fervant. He had 
 before this been attended, and given over as incurable by a 
 furgeon at the Cape. Being curious to examine a negro's flefh, 
 I had for fome weeks before we fet off undertaken to look 
 after his fores myfelf. Thefe in general difcharged very 
 httle. The raw flefh appeared exa6lly of the fame co- 
 lour with that of an European. After the proud-flefh 
 was got under, the ulcer began to heal, by throwing out 
 frefli fibres in the fame manner as ours do, with fome- 
 thing whitifh on the iide of the fkin, which otherwife 
 was dark-coloured. The procefs, however, went on very 
 flowly and tedioufly ; but with the warm bath, the fore in- 
 creafed both in width and depth. I let him go on bath- 
 ing neverthelefs, in hopes that the wound would heal of 
 itfelf, after his body had been well cleanfed by a courfe 
 of bathing ; but in this, as I afterwards found, I was very 
 much miftaken. The flave himfelf informed me, that 
 once before, when he was in a flate of freedom, and in 
 his native country, he had had this fame complaint come 
 upon him ; that the fore had then, as well as at prefent,- 
 broke out of itfelf, but at that time was healed in a few 
 days, by means of a certain bark bruifed between two 
 Hones, and laid upon the part. He faid he knew the tree 
 
 very
 
 144 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 >775- very well, and had feen the bark of it ufed by many of 
 iA^ his countrymen with equal fuccefs ; but that fmce his ar- 
 rival in Africa, he had looked for it in vain. 
 
 The chriflians who arm the natives of Madagafcar 
 againft each otherj in order, by bartering afterwards wdth 
 the conquerors, to recruit tlieir colonies with droves of 
 wretched flaves, rauft here give me leave to remind them, 
 if not fwayed by the confideration of the advantages 
 which may accrue to mankind, yet at leaft for the fake of 
 their own interefts, a motive in other refpedls fo powerful 
 with them, in fome meafure to turn their thoughts, and 
 allot a fmall part of their gains, to the purpofe of making 
 uieful refearches. The Peruvian bark^ fen eg a^ ophiorhiza^ 
 Jarjaparilla^ quajjia^ with many other ufeful remedies, cal- 
 culated for preferving millions of our fpecies, have not we 
 learned them all from thofe wx call favages ? and perhaps 
 might learn Itill more, if our tyranny had not already, 
 I had almoft faid, entirely extirpated them, and together 
 with them the fruits of their ufeful experience. The 
 operation of the bath, and the cures that are here per- 
 formed by its means, depend, in my opinion, very little on 
 the mineral that is contained in a ftate of folution in the 
 water ; for to do any good in this way, it is forced out too 
 fpeedily, and by too near paflages. The warmth itfelf, in 
 the degree in which it exillis here, hinders the iron from 
 a6ting as a tonic ; and likewife prevents any of the water, 
 by which the body is furrounded, from being abforbed 
 into the veflels, and diluting the humours, &c. as thefe 
 latter evidently flow towards the furface of the body ; fo 
 that the cures performed here, proceed from nothing elfe 
 I than
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 145 
 
 than repeated mutations of the humours by fweating, and JJ7s- 
 therefore a more fuitable diet and courfe of medicine than ^-^vO 
 are here obferved are of the utmoft importance, to the end 
 that the newly-generated fluids may be more healthy than 
 thofe that have been previoufly carried off by the pores 
 of the fkin. But if it be true, that the cures made by 
 this bath chiefly depend on the operation of fweating, in 
 this cafe it has no peculiar advantage over domeftic baths, 
 befides that of faving fuel. In Africa and Europe, as 
 well as among the favages in America, it is by no means 
 unknown, that the methods of cure by exciting perfpira- 
 tion in different ways, have in certain cafes been of the 
 greateft fervice ; but perhaps, in many inftances, more be- 
 nefit would be found by making ufe of the natural baths 
 at the Cape with a more moderate degree of warmth, 
 which would allow of the water being abforbed into the 
 body ; and likewife by ufing them with the addition of 
 herbs : as, for example, of buckn {diofmd) and wild dacka 
 {pblomis leonurns) which are known both by the colonics 
 and the Hottentots to be as efficacious as they are common, 
 and of the powerful effecSts of which in pains and con- 
 tractions of the limbs, when ufed in the form of baths, 
 I myfelf have feen inftances. But finally, fuppofing the 
 folutions of minerals in the warm fprings to be pofTefTed 
 of the greateft powers, either univerfally, or only in 
 particular circumftances, even then in default of natu- 
 ral baths, one may prepare fomething fimilar to them 
 one's felf. Vide Johi Caroli Schroteri Difputatio fub 
 prafidlo Frid. Hoffman I de Balneorum artijicialiuniy ex 
 Scoriis Metallicis ufu Medico. Hala Magdeburgi 1772. 
 Vol. I. ^ U Like-
 
 \-^(y A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '77?- Like wife Die kunjl natur lichen Brunnen nacbzumachen, (the 
 
 July. 
 
 K^y^sJ art of imitating natural mineral waters) by M. Charles le 
 Roi. Likewife Profeffor Bergman's Opufcula^ Vol. I. 
 
 In the mean while, without denying the advantages that 
 may accrue to any country from poffefling thefe warm 
 fprings, it would not be amifs in this place to make fome 
 enquiries concerning their origin. It is well known, that 
 heat, earthquakes, and even fire are produced, when wa- 
 ter comes into contad: with Jlrata of fulphur mixed with 
 iron. Subterraneous heat or fire produced by this or other 
 eaufes, is the occallon of the water exifling in the bowels 
 of the earth being forced upwards in the form of vapours. 
 A colle6lion of thefe impregnated with the fubftances 
 which they may have diffolved in their way, compofe 
 what we call miiteral waters. So that it feems much to 
 be feared, left in fuch confiderable diftillations the water 
 lliould chance to boil over. And, indeed, experience fhows, 
 that, in this cafe, warm fprings and volcanos for the moft 
 part enfue. To conclude, from the number of baths 
 there is at the Cape, and the confiderable degrees of 
 warmth they are poiTefled of, it is probable, that there lies 
 concealed in the bowels of the earth not a little of this 
 burning and all-deftroying element. What gives farther 
 caiife for this fufpicion, is a little rock or hill of ftone, 
 fituated fifteen or twenty paces above the bathing-houfe. 
 This confifts of a folid lava, in which there appear evident 
 marks of its having been once in a fluid ftate. It likewife 
 perfe6lly refembles a lava which I had found before in 
 great abundance on the ifland of Afcenfion. This lava too, 
 is ia like manner of a very dark colour and contains iron. 
 
 A lit-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 A little piece of road is carried over this fmU and is diftin- I'^js- 
 guifliable by a blackifli dufl or powder, like charcoal duft, ^^^ 
 which probably proceeds from the lava or iron ore cruflied 
 to pieces by the wheels of the waggons that pafs that way. 
 But if any fubterraneous heat or fire fliould be flill con- 
 cealed hereabouts to a confiderable extent, may it not fo 
 far operate on the fliell or external cruft of the earth, that 
 much of the humidity of the latter fhall partly evaporate, 
 and partly be dried up in the chinks and clefts w^hich are 
 formed here in its furface. What confirms me in this 
 conjecture is, that though there falls a great deal of rain 
 in this part of Africa, fo that in the rainy feafon the rivers 
 almofl overflow their banks, the greateft part of them 
 neverthelefs are quite dried up in fummer time. Here 
 are no wells and very few fprings, but abundance of arid 
 plains covered with fand and heath, of bare mountains, Sec, 
 All thefe contribute to give this country the afpe6t of being 
 the moft thirfly and dry tradl of land that I have yet feen 
 upon the whole face of the globe. The warmth of the 
 climate here is not fufhcient to account for fo great a degree 
 of aridity ; but the fuppofition of its being occafioned by a 
 fubterraneous heat appears to me by no means abfurd, as 
 on the ifle of T'anna^ though rendered fo fertile in other 
 refpedls by the alhes of a burning volcano, I obferved two 
 tra6ls of land fufhciently dry and arid, notwithHanding 
 that a fmall f^oot only upon each of them was fenlibly heated 
 by the fubterraneous fire. Near the Hottentots Holland^s 
 Bath^ herbs and flirubs grow luxuriantly along the tepid 
 flreams, which take their rife in the warm fprings, the 
 roots and ftems of fome of thefe vegetables being even 
 
 U % wafbed
 
 148 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '77?- wafhed by the water, without fufFering the leaft inconve- 
 C/v>J nience. It is at the foot of the Zzvarteberg (or black moun- 
 tain, as it is called) that the bath is fituated. Beneath 
 this range of mountains is extended a confiderable plain, 
 covered with fmall hills and dales, which was fhut in 
 from the fea by a naked and hideous range of moun- 
 tains of granite. Thefe limited profpeds which are fo 
 common in Africa, could not but be very unpleafant 
 to me, who in Sweden was almofl always ufed to 
 fee the horizon perpetually verdant with groves of firs 
 and pine. 
 
 During my flay here, the fpring, together with the 
 month of Augufl, made daily advances with her various 
 beautiful bulbovis plants, which afterwards, when the 
 drought of fummer came on, took their leave. Among 
 thefe I now could number feveral different varieties of irijes. 
 The roots, or more properly the bulbs of thefe, it is com- 
 mon here to roaft in the allies and eat : they are called 
 oenkjes^ and have nearly the fame tafte with potatoes. The 
 Hottentots, with more refle6lion than generally falls to 
 the fhare of favages, ufe the word oenkjes in the fame 
 fenfe in which Virgil ufed that of arifla^ that is, for 
 reckoning of time ; always beginning the new year, 
 whenever the oenkjes pufli out of the ground, and mark- 
 ing their age and other events by the number of times 
 in which, in a certain period, this vegetable has made its 
 appearance. 
 
 My courfe of bathing made me in general too languid 
 to undertake any long excurfions, or to go a hunting, parti- 
 cularly up the neighbouring mountains. On the 12th, 
 
 how-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 149 
 
 however, a lame flave having gone up into the cliffs to 1775- 
 gather wood and Humps of trees, and having at the fame V^y^ 
 time taken with him feveral hounds, which I heard very 
 bufy a hunting, I haftened up thither with a fmall gun, in 
 hopes of meeting with ^Jieenbock\ but to my great aftonifh- 
 ment found, that the hounds had driven the game up into 
 a tree, and were laying clofe fiege to it round about the 
 bottom. The flave, w^ho hkewife came hither with his 
 burden, faid it was a tiger or a leopard; and added, that 
 I muft take care to be fure of my mark, or otherwife it 
 might leap on to my flioulders from the branches of 
 the tree, by which it was pretty well Hieltered, and be re- 
 venged on me. As I recolledled having heard that in Ben^ 
 gaU in order to provide in fome meafure againfl a cafe of 
 this kind, they held a fmiall fpear over their heads, I now 
 got ready a large knife, at the fame time that I gave fire 
 with fome large fwan-fliot, upon which I let a ball run 
 down in hafte. As for the refl, I thought I might very 
 well depend on the hounds relieving me by taking him off. 
 The ball miffed, and the fliot alone took place ; however, 
 the beafl at length came tumbling down, and proved to 
 b^ nothing more than a large wild cat. It was of a grey co- 
 lour, and, for aught I could fee, was exadlly of the fame 
 fpecies as our tame houfe cats ; though, indeed, it weigh- 
 ed three times as much. I meafured it with an Englifli 
 rule ; it mufh therefore be obferved, that the Englifli inch 
 is larger than the Swedifli, and that the fize of the 
 animal is confequently given here according to the former, 
 namely, 
 
 • • Fronii
 
 i^o A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 ^77?- Inches. 
 
 v^^v^O From the tip of the nofe to the head behind the ears 5 
 From the ear to the llioiilder - - - 2 1- 
 
 From the flioiilder to the anus - - 14 
 
 So that the whole length of the cat was - 2 1 f 
 
 The tail-- - - - - 13 
 
 The feet from the belly meafured, 
 The fore feet - - - - - 12 
 
 The hind feet - - - -13 
 
 So that the height of the cat was about a foot and a half. 
 The inteflines were half as long again as the animal, 
 tail and all, or about fifty inches. They were full of 
 moles and rats. 
 
 A Hottentot bq/iardj who had built a little cottage 
 here near the bath, for himfelf, his wife, and his little 
 daughter, looked upon the flefh of wild cats, lions, tigers, 
 and fuch like beafts of prey, as a medicine, and much 
 wholefomer than that of other animals. The greater 
 part of the company at the wells were defirous of preferv- 
 ing the fat, which was thought to polTefs not only the 
 virtue of healing fores, but likewife to be ferviceable in 
 the gout ; and the fame notion was harboured concerning 
 the fat of other wild beafts. It is certain, that the fat of 
 this wild cat had a very rank and penetrating fmell, and 
 on that account probably was preferable to other fat. 
 Another kind of cat, as it is called, or the roode-kat, is in 
 Africa univerfally fuppofed to pofTefs a great medicinal 
 power in its fkin to cure lumbagos, pains in the joints, 
 gout in the hands and feet, 8cc. if the hairy fide be ^'^orn 
 
 on
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 151 
 
 on the part affedted. I have Ukewife heard the fame at- 1775. 
 tefled by thofe who thought they had received benefit by ^^y^ 
 it ; but as this fuppofed fpecific was fold at a very high 
 })rice, I was contented for my part, with examining the 
 Ikin, by which I was convinced, that it is the fame ani- 
 mal as Mr. Pennant, in his Synopjis and Hijlory of ^ad- 
 rupeds^ has defcribed, and given a drawing of, by the 
 name of the Ferfian Cat\ and M. Buffon, Vol. IX. T. 24. 
 by the name of the Caracal, The hair of this fkin, it 
 muft be owned, is very fine and foft ; but probably there 
 are many other fkins that, applied with an equal degree 
 of faith, would have the fame effects. The colour of the 
 upper part of it is of a very light red, fprinkled with 
 grey; under the belly it is light- coloured; the upper part 
 of the ears, which have tufts of hair on the tips of them, is 
 dark brown, fprinkled with grey. This animal is rather long 
 in the body, and about two feet in height, with a peaked 
 nofe. They have a third kind of cat in Africa, which, in 
 its motions and attitudes, is like our common cat, and is 
 called at the Cape the tiger-kat^ and the tiger bojch-kat. 
 From the two fkins which I brought with me, and which I 
 fliall perhaps have occafion to defcribe more accurately, I 
 cannot find but that the tiger-cat is the fame animal as M. 
 BuFFON calls the y^r<L'^/-cat. As to the animal to which M. 
 VosMAER gives the name of the African civet-cat^ I much 
 doubt if it be to be found at the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 The hyjirlx crijiata of Linn.'EUS, called by the colonifts 
 
 here yz\er'Varken (or iron-hog^) is the fame animal as the 
 
 Germans carry about for a fhow in our country by the name 
 
 of porcupine^ and does much damage to the cabbages and 
 
 3 garden^
 
 152 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 t7?5* -sarden -fluff in the iiiclofures here. In the day-time it 
 
 July. t> 
 
 ^•vx^ keeps in its holes under-ground, and at night it feeks for 
 its food, which confifts of roots and leaves. The calla 
 Mthiopica is the plant liippofed to be moft coveted by this 
 animal, on which account likewife it is called the yzter^ 
 "Darkens wort el. This vegetable is notwithftanding of fo 
 acrid a nature, that either the root or the leaf applied to 
 the furface of the body occalions blifters. The hyftrix 
 is caught in the following manner. They Ileal by night 
 foftly towards the place where the creature ufes to fecrete 
 itfelf, taking with them a dark lantern. The dogs now 
 begin to give the alarm, and help to drive the animal from 
 its fubterraneous retreat, till at length the fportfmen are able 
 to get at it and knock it on the head. It often happens 
 indeed, that the more eager and inexperienced dogs get fore 
 nofes and mouths, &c. in confequence of being pricked by 
 this creature's fharp quills ; but there is no foundation for the 
 report, that it has the power of Ihooting forth thefe wea- 
 pons from its body at pleafure, and diredling them againft 
 its enemies. It is perfe6lly well defended from dogs as 
 well as other animals, while, like the hedgehogs it rolls its 
 body into a heap, and fets up its prickles or quills, many 
 of which are a foot and a half long. I did not hear 
 talk at the Gape of any bezoar being produced by this 
 animal. The flefli nearefl refembles pork, a circumftance 
 which has undoubtedly procured it the name it bears. It 
 is chiefly ufed as bacon, being fmoked and dried up the 
 chimney for that purpofe, and is by no means ill-tafted ; 
 though prejudice hinders a great many of the inhabitants 
 from eating it. 
 
 I found
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 153 
 
 I found here two new fpecies of the genus of tetrao^ ^py 
 
 ■«■ o ' July. 
 
 one of which is called partridge and the other pheafant^ v.x-v^ 
 either fort being nearly of the fize of our partridges. They 
 live in flocks, and are not hard to come at, efpecially in 
 the mornings and evenings ; at which times chiefly they 
 difcover their abode by a flirill kurri7ig noife by no means 
 pleafant in itfelf, yet not difagreeable to hear ; partly as it 
 takes off a little from the wildnefs and defolatenefs, witSi 
 which the light of fo many extenlive and untilled fidds 
 cannot fail to ftrike the imagination ; and partly, as par- 
 ticularly at break of day as well as at the ruddy opening 
 of the morn, it prognofticates the approach of the fun to 
 vivify alf nature. Flocks of keuvitts^ on the other hand, 
 towards the dufk of the evening, fcreamed out a difagree- 
 able found refembling that of the name they bear. Thefe 
 are a fort of fnipes, and are diftinguifhed in the Syftema 
 Naturae by the name of the fcolopax capenJIs, Knorrhane 
 is the name of a kind of otis^ which has the art of con- 
 cealing itfelf perfectly till one comes pretty near to it, 
 when on a fudden it foars aloft, and almoft perpendicular- 
 ly into the air, with a fliarp, haity, and quavering fcream, 
 or the repetition of korrh^ korrb, which is an alarm to the 
 animals throughout the whole neighbourhood, difcovering 
 the approach of a fportfman, or enemy of fome fort or 
 other. 
 
 The fecretaries bird^ though it has been already brought 
 alive to Europe, and a drawing of it, painted in its natural 
 colours has been given by M. Vosmaer under the deno- 
 mination of fagittarius, is too remarkable among the 
 feathered kind to be left unnoticed here. It was in thefe 
 
 Vol. L X parts
 
 ^54 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775. parts I firft faw it in its wild ftate. It is not a very Ihy 
 \J^1,^ bird, but when feared, begins at firft to endeavour to fave 
 itfelf by hopping and fcudding along very fwiftly, and af- 
 terwards does it more efFe6tually by flight. In external 
 appearance it partly refembles the eagle, and partly the 
 crane, two birds certainly very unlike each other, and in 
 my opinion ought to be referred to neither of thefe genera. 
 The Hottentots give it a name moft fuitable to its nature, 
 viz, as tranflated into Dutch, Jlangen-vraater (or fer- 
 pent- eater ;) and, in fa6t, it is for the purpofe of keep- 
 ing within due bounds the very extenlive race of ferpents 
 in Africa, that nature has principally deftined this bird. 
 It is much larger than our crane, with legs two feet and a 
 half long, and the body in proportion lefs than the crane's. 
 Its beak, claws, ftout thighs covered with long feathers, and 
 Ihort neck, are like thofe of the eagle and hawk kind. The 
 head, neck, beak, the lefTer coverts of the wings, and the 
 greater part of the tail, are of a grey leaden colour ; the 
 longer quills of which latter, a little way from the tips, are 
 moreover marked with a black fpot; but the two middle 
 quills are longeft of all, and are white at the tips ; its 
 breaft is of a yellowifh white (Jbrdide albidum\) the vent- 
 feathers, wing-quills, thighs, claws, pupil, and the retro- 
 verted feathers under the eyes are black; its thighs are of 
 a flefh-colour, its eyes large and prominent, the iris of an 
 orange-yellow, the cere-i and the region of the eyes naked 
 and yellow. A tuft or comb compofed of about twelve 
 feathers, with which, placed in two rows, this bird is 
 adorned, lies down moftly on the hind part of the neck. 
 4 This
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 155 
 
 This bird has a peculiar method of feizing upon ferpents. yjS' 
 When it approaches them, it always takes care to hold C^r^^ 
 the point of one of its wings before it, in order to parry- 
 off their venomous bites ; fometimes it finds an oppor- 
 tunity of fpurning and treading upon its antagonift, or 
 elfe of taking it up on its pinions and throwing it into 
 the air ; when by this method of proceeding it has at 
 length wearied out its adverfary, and rendered it almoft 
 fenfelefs, it then kills it and fwallows it at leifure, without 
 danger. Though I have very frequently feen the fecreta- 
 ries bird both in its wild and tame ftate, I have yet never 
 had an opportunity of feeing this method it has of catching 
 ferpents ; however, I can by no means harbour any doubt 
 concerning it, after having had it confirmed to me by fo 
 many Hottentots as well as Chriflians ; and fmce this bird 
 has been obferved at the menagerie at the Hague, to amufe 
 and exercife itfelf in the fame manner with a flraw. If, 
 finally, this ferpent-eater is to be referred to the accipitres, 
 or the hawk-kind, the name of falco ferpentarius appears 
 to be the moll proper to diflinguifli it by in the Syjleuia Na- 
 cturcc. It has even been remarked, that thefe birds, w^hen 
 tame, will not difdain now and then to put up with a nice 
 chicken. 
 
 I will not venture at prefent to try my reader's patience 
 longer, with accounts of any more of the feathered inhabi- 
 tants of Africa, at leaft not of the fmaller fort ; yet it may 
 not be improper to mention by the bye, that they are of 
 many different forts, and moft of them unlike thole which 
 are to be found in other parts of the world, and at the 
 fame time that many of them are yet unknown to natura- 
 
 X 2 lifts.
 
 1^5 AVOYAGEto the 
 
 '775- lifts. In general, they excel our European birds in the 
 
 1 uiv 
 
 K^^-Y^ brilliancy of their plumage ; but, on the other hand, with 
 regard to what adds greater life to nature, and which is 
 capable of charming us more, and operating more power- 
 fully on our lenfes, viz. the delightful warbling and fong 
 peculiar to the feathered race, there are very few of them 
 that defer ve our notice in this point. 
 
 The manner in which I employed the remainder of my 
 
 time, while I llaid at the warm bath, was in vifiting a 
 
 rich farmer who was lick, and lived about two miles and 
 
 a half oiF. I had now better reafon than ever to be pleafed 
 
 with the knov/ledgc I had attained in the ^fculapian art, 
 
 though my reward conlifted in nothing more than a flioul- 
 
 der of mutton now and then, and a piece of v^nifon, which 
 
 fometimes was pretty plentiful there ; and that at every 
 
 vifit they gave me a pitcher full of milk, which I took 
 
 home with me on the pummel of my laddie. As this latter 
 
 was never fufFered to go out of the houfe for money, and 
 
 the company at the wells were very irregularly ferved with 
 
 proviiions, and even thefe were fcarce, it occalioned me 
 
 frequently to repeat my vifits to my patient, efpecially as 
 
 the copious evacuations by fweat required plenty of nourifli- 
 
 ment to fupply the place of what was thus diffipated ; aa 
 
 apophthegm, of which many of thofe, who ufed the bath, 
 
 were reminded by an excellent appetite. As from the fame 
 
 motive I was once obliged to go as far as Bott-rivier, in 
 
 order to get in a ftock of butcher's meat and garden-ftuff, 
 
 which I brought home with. me on a led horfe, I had the 
 
 fatisfadtion, in the extenlive trads above-mentioned, which 
 
 are 
 
 i
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 157 
 
 are between the bath and this river, of feeing feme of the *775- 
 dog kind in their wild Hate. v,>vv^ 
 
 Thefe wild dogs are fome of the moft pernicious beafts 
 of prey, particularly with refpe6l to flieep and goats, that 
 either the African colonifts or the Hottentot hoards are ex- 
 pofed to. They are reported not to be content merely with 
 fatisfying their hunger, but even to deftroy and wound 
 every thing they meet with. They always herd together 
 in companies, and wander about day and night after their 
 prey. The noife they make in hunting is faid much to 
 refemble the yelping of our common hounds, only to be 
 fomething fofter. It is alTerted, that they even have the 
 courage to try their ftrength with larger dogs, as well tame 
 as wild; and that they w'ere once bold enoueh in their turns, 
 to purfue a fportfman, who was out after them on horfe- 
 back, but was unlucky enough to mifs fire. It has been 
 obferved, that they hunt with much fagacity, a6ling per- 
 fe6lly in concert with each other ; while at the fame time 
 each of them. in particular does his bell to overtake or meet 
 the game, till at length it falls a prey to the pack. They 
 are faid to be always as lean as fkeletons, and confequently 
 ugly, and at the fame time that they have feveral fpots 
 bare of hair. One fort is faid to be larger, and at the 
 fame time of a reddifh colour, and fpotted black ; the other 
 lefs and browner. Thofe that I then law at the diftance 
 of two hundred paces, were probably of the larger kind^ 
 for they were two feet high, lliort haired, and reddifli. 
 No one yet has tried to tame them ; fome of the country 
 people, however, may have had opportunities of experi- 
 eiicing, how near thefe grim and fierce animals of prey 
 
 may
 
 i^S A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 ^77 S' may be allied to the more civilized little dogs which fo fre- 
 
 July. _ 
 
 \,^.^Y"^ quently engrofs the favour and attention of the fair fex. 
 It is poflible, that there is yet another fpecies of wilds dogs 
 in Africa, as a peafant of the name of Pottgieter in- 
 formed me, that in MoJJel-bay he had feen an animal of the 
 fize and Ihape of a common dog, but that it had larger 
 ears, and was marked white under the belly, but was of 
 a dark colour every where elfe. His companion had fhot 
 at it, but miffed fire. 
 
 The tiger-wolf is a much more common beafl of prey, 
 and one that from the very beginning, as well as through- 
 out the whole of my journey, occalioned me fo much anxiety 
 and fear for the fafety of my cattle, and confequently for 
 the happy conclufion of my expedition, that I cannot defer 
 any longer the defcription of fo formidable an animal. By 
 the colonics they are called tiger -wolf. This is that hitherto 
 unknown animal, which Mr. Pennant, in his Synopfis 
 of Quadrupeds, page 162? N*^ 1195 and Hiftory of Qua- 
 drupeds, page 250, N^ i49> bas briefly defcribed and 
 given a drawing of, by the name of the fpotted hyana^ a 
 different fpecies from the canis by ana of Linnaeus. 
 
 The night, or the dufk of the evening only, is the time 
 in which thefe animals feek their prey, after which they 
 are ufed to roam about both feparately and in flocks. But 
 one of the moft unfortunate properties of this creature 
 is, that it cannot keep its own counfel. The language of 
 it cannot eafily be taken down upon paper ; however, with 
 a view to make this fpecies of wolf better known than it 
 has been hitherto, I fhall obferve, that it is by means of 
 a found fomething like the following, aauacy and fometimes 
 
 ooao^
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 159 
 
 ooaoy yelled out with a tone of defpair, (at the interval of 1775- 
 fome minutes between each howl,) that nature obliges s^y^sJ 
 this, the moil voracious animal in all Africa, to difcover 
 itfelf, juft as it does the moll venomous of all the Ameri- 
 can ferpents, by the rattle in its tail, itfelf to warn every 
 one to avoid its mortal bite. This fame rattle-fnake would 
 feem, in confequence of thus betraying its own delignSy 
 and of its great inactivity, (to be as it were nature's ftep-^ 
 child,) if, according to many credible account3> it had not 
 the wonderous property of charming its prey by fixing its- 
 eye upon it. The Hke is affirmed alfo of the tiger-wolf. 
 This creature, it is true, is obliged to give information 
 againil itfelf ; but on the other handy is acSlually pofiefi^ed 
 of the peculiar gift of being enabled, in fome meafure, 
 to imitate the cries of other animals ; by which means this 
 arch-deceiver is fometimes lucky enough to beguile and 
 attradl calves, foals, lambs and other animals. As to the 
 bowlings of this creature, they are, in fad:, as much the 
 natural confequences of hunger, as gaping is of a difpo- 
 fition to fieep; and as the flowing of the faliva, or the water 
 coming into the mouthy is of the fight of fome delicacy, 
 which excites the appetite. There muH, indeed, be fome 
 phyfical caufe for this. The very hoUownefs of the found, 
 or fome other quality of it which I cannot well defcribe, 
 induces me to conjedlure, that it proceeds from the empti- 
 nefs of the ftomach. In the mean while, that a difpo- 
 fition to this yelling is abfolutely implanted in the animal 
 by nature, I am apt to conclude from the inftance of a 
 young tiger-wolf that I faw at the Cape, which, though 
 it had been brought up tame from, a whelp by a Chinefe 
 
 refident
 
 i6o A VOYAGE to the 
 
 >775- refulent there, and was then chained up, was fiiid never- 
 
 Julv. 
 
 v^-»^ thelels to be lilent in the day time, but very trequcntly in 
 the night (being then probably hungry) ^Yas heard to emit 
 the yelHng noiie pecuhar to its kind. Near lome of the 
 larger fai*ms, where there is a great deal of cattle, this 
 ravenous bcait is to be found almoit every night ; and at 
 the lame time frequently from one hour to another be- 
 traying itlclf by its bowlings, gives the dogs the alarm. The 
 peai"imts allured me, that the cunning of the wolves was fo 
 great, (adding, that the trick had now and then even lucceed- 
 >cd with Ibme of them) that a party of them, half flying 
 and half defending themfelves, would decoy the whole pack 
 of dogs to follow them to the diftance of a gun-fliot or two 
 from the farm, ^^ith a view to give an opportunity to the 
 reft of the wolves to come out from their ambulcade, and, 
 ^witliout meeting with the leall refillance, cany off booty 
 fufficient for themfelves and their fugitive brethren. As 
 the tiger- wolf, though a much larger and ftronger animal, 
 does not venture without being driven to the utmoll ne- 
 celTity, to meafure its llrength with the common dog, this 
 is certainly an evident proof of its cowardice. Neither does 
 this fame voracious beall dare openly to attack oxen, 
 cows, horfes, or any of tiie larger animals, while they 
 make the leaft apj-yearance as if they would defend them- 
 felves, or even as long as they do not betray any llgns 
 of fear. On the other hand, it has art enough to rufli in 
 upon them fuddenly and unexpecfedly, at the fame time 
 -fetting up a horrid and ftrange cry, fo as to fet them a 
 running in confequence of the fright, that it may after- 
 wards keep clofe to their heels with fafety, till it has an 
 
 oppor-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 i6t 
 
 opportunity with one bite or ilrroke to rip up the belly of 
 its prey, (even though it fhould be fo large an animal as a 
 draught-ox) or elfe give it ibme dangerous bite, and fo at 
 one fmgle bout make itfelf mafler of its antagonift. On 
 this account the peafants are obliged to drive their cattle 
 home every evening before it is dark, excepting the more 
 confiderable droves of draught-oxen, which they let roara 
 about day and night to feek their food unattended, by 
 reafon that they are ufed both to the country and the 
 artifices of the wolves, and can therefore the eafier depend 
 upon and defend each other. 
 
 Travellers, on the other hand, who are obliged to keep 
 on in their journey, frequently fuffer great loffes by turn- 
 ing their cattle out at night; efpecially of the young ones, 
 which are eafiefl feared. I, who had only one team of 
 oxen, and thofe, to my forrow, of that degenerate fort as 
 to be apt to flray and w^ander afar off, feldom ventured to 
 let them graze in the night, however neceffary it might 
 otherwife be ; for my botanizing feldom allowed me to 
 travel on nights, as the peafants do, and bait my cattle in 
 the day-time : fo that, as I could only travel in the morn- 
 ings and evenings, the heat of the day was neither a pro- 
 per nor a fufficient time for baiting them. I had beiides 
 not unfrequently the difagreeable accident happen to me, 
 that the leader of myteam, whofe duty it was to go to pafhire 
 with the cattle, often neglected his duty. By this means 
 we wafted not only many hours, but even fometimes a 
 couple of days together, in anxious endeavours to re« 
 cover our loft cattle ; and at the fame time were obhged <o 
 go over hills and dales, on horfeback as well as on foot, 
 • Vol. I. Y to 
 
 »775- 
 July.
 
 j55i A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »775- to look after them. While I flaid at the warm bath, my 
 \S>^ laddle-horfe together with fome others, was frightened 
 one night by the wolves, fo as to pull up by the roots the 
 fmall bullies to which they were tied, and took to their 
 heels ; but by good luck, they were found again unhurt 
 the following evening. They had perhaps difengaged 
 themfelves entirely from their faflenings, or elfe taken heart, 
 on having been obliged to flop at the fteep declivity of a 
 mountain, that enclofed a narrow dale, where they were 
 found. It may be like wife, that the hyaena has courage 
 only upon the open plains, in the fame manner as our 
 ordinary wolves ; w^hich, for fear of being taken by fur- 
 prize, are faid not to venture to follow any one that takes 
 refuge in the fkirts of a wood. The imminent danger I 
 had been in of lofing my faddle-horfe, induced me after- 
 wards to be as cautious as poflible againfl fo difagreeable 
 and vigilant an enemy as the wolf. I had alfo the good for- 
 tune, throughout the whole of my journey, to efcape paying 
 any tax to this animal's voracity and cunning, excepting a 
 trace belonging to the waggon, two yards long and two 
 fcgers thick, made of ftrong thongs of undrefled ox's 
 hide plaited together; for one night a wolf came within- 
 fide of the door of my lodgings (at 'Tiger-hoeK) where it 
 hung up, and gnawing it in pieces, ate it up. The Hot- 
 tentots themfelves have confeffed to me, that it was ftill 
 within the memory of man, that the tiger-wolf was bold 
 enough to fteal upon them and moleft them in their huts, 
 particularly by carrying off their children. This, however, 
 is now no longer the cafe ; a circumftance, perhaps, pro- 
 ceeding from the introdudion of fire-arms iiito th6 coun- 
 try.
 
 C A PE OF GOO D HO P E. 163 
 
 trv, a circiimflance which, in thefe latter times, has caufed l^rs- 
 
 ■> ^ ' ' July* 
 
 this, as well as other wild beafts, to ftand in greater awe of V^yn«^ 
 man than it did formerly. I have heard the following ftory 
 of the tiger- wolf mentioned, as being related in a certain 
 treatife on the Cape, of which I now cannot exadly re- 
 member the title. The tale is laughable enough, though 
 perhaps not quite fo probable. 
 
 " At a fealt near the Cape one night, a trumpeter who 
 had got his fill was carried out of doors, in order that he 
 might cool himfelf, and get fober again. The fcent of 
 him foon drew thither a tiger-wolf, which threw him on 
 his back, and dragged him along with him as a corpfe, 
 and confequently a fair prize, up towards Table-mou^ifam* 
 During this, however, our drunken mufician waked, 
 enough in his fenfes to know the danger of his fituation, 
 and to found the alarm with his trumpet, v/hich he car- 
 ried faftened to his fide. The wild beaft, as may eafiiy 
 be fuppofed, was not lefs frightened in his turn." Any 
 other beiides a trumpeter would, in fuch circumflances, 
 have undoubtedly been no better than wolPs meat. 
 
 In the mean while it is a certain truth, and well kiiown 
 to every body, that thefe wolves are to be found almofl 
 every dark night about the fliambles at the Gape, where 
 they devour the offals of bones, fkin, &:c. which are 
 thrown out there in great quantities, and drag away with 
 them what they cannot eat. The inhabitants repay thefe 
 good offices of the hyaena with a free and unlimited pri- 
 vilege of accefs and egrefs. The dogs too hereabouts, 
 perfedly accuflomed to their company, are faid never to 
 throw any impediment in their way ; fo that the beaft, 
 
 Y 2 entertained
 
 164 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 y?5- entertained and fed in the very heart of the town, has 
 
 July. ^ 
 
 V^-v-O been feldom known to do any mifchief there. It is like- 
 wife a well-known fa6t, that thefe wolves, in different 
 parts of Africa, exhibit different degrees of courage; 
 this, however, may perhaps proceed from their being of 
 different fpecies in different parts. 
 
 Yet in this very greedinefs of the hy<:ena^ and its difpo- 
 fition to confume every thing it can get at, the provident 
 oeconomy of nature is abundantly evinced. The flowery 
 fields at the Cape, w^ould certainly foon become hideous and 
 disfigured with carcafes and fkeletons, the relicks of the 
 great quantity of game of all forts which graze and die 
 there in fucceflion, were not the tiger-tvolf manifeflly 
 fubfervient to nature in the regulation of her police, by- 
 clearing her theatre from them ; nay, I had almoft faid, 
 the wolf alone : for lions and tigers, for example, never 
 eat bones, and are not very fond of carcafes. Thefe are 
 ferviceable in another way. They make the other animals 
 vigilant and attentive to the fun6tions for which nature 
 has defigned them; and befides anfwering feveral other 
 intentions of providence, they ferve, in conjun6tion with 
 mankind, to keep in a jufl equilibrium the increafe of 
 the animal kingdom ; fo that it may not exceed the fup- 
 plies afforded it by the vegetable part of the creation, and 
 by this means prevent the neceffary renewal of the latter 
 by feeds, &c. and thus, by defolating it and laying it 
 wafle, in the end impoverifla and deftroy themfelves, and 
 die moft wretched vidims to want and hunger ; fo that, 
 notwithflanding the immenfe quantities of game exifling 
 in this country, there are very feldom found any bones in 
 
 the
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 165 
 
 the haunts they have left, and never after the tiger, hon, yj^^- 
 jackal, wild cat, and wild dog. Thefe latter animals, that V^^yxJ 
 they may not encumber and litter the ground which na- 
 ture has ordained them to clear, never go out of their 
 dens and caverns when they find themfelves Hck and dif- 
 abled; but there, oppreffed with hunger and difeafe, 
 await the tranfitory moment, w^hen they muft pay obe- 
 dience to nature's lafl law. 
 
 On this fubjedl it is worth while to obferve, that the tiger- 
 'zvo/f is faid, befides being a very great gormandizer, like- 
 wife to be capable of bearing hunger a confiderable time; 
 and if we alfo recollect its cowardly manner of attacking 
 hving animals, it will be evident, that this creature's vora- 
 city muft neceflarily ferve to confume fuch as are worn 
 out with age, or are fickly or maimed, as well as the^ other 
 remains and refufe of the animal kingdom, and in like 
 manner what may be redundant in it; but does not threaten 
 any great deftruction of the iupplies neceffary for the re- 
 cruiting of this part of the creation. 
 
 Two other voracious animals of this kind are found in 
 Africa, which are diftinguidied by the names of mountain^ 
 wolf and Jlrand-'vcolf \ but the people of the country were 
 not able to j^ive me anv other marks to diftino-uifli them 
 by, than that the mountain-wolf is of a greyifli calf, but 
 t\vQ Ji rand-wolf blackiili with a grey head, hi the mean- 
 while, what I have faid above concerning the tiger-wolf, 
 as being the moft common of the kind, may perhaps be 
 in a great meafure applicable to the tw o other fpecies. 
 
 The one of thefe probably is the canis hyanay Syjl» 
 Kat> Linn, as I brought with me from the Cape a fkin, 
 
 which
 
 i66 A V O Y A G E -TO THE 
 
 »77S' >vhich feems to correfpond tolerably well with the defcrip- 
 
 July. , 
 
 v^^^-x^ tions we have ot that animal. The teeth and feet were 
 either loft from off the fkin, or elfe mutilated ; however, to 
 defcribe it as accurately as I can, it was five feet in length 
 and two in breadth, and the legs, to conclude from what was 
 left, were above a foot long. The tail was fifteen inches long, 
 and tolerably ere6l; from the tip of the nofe to the eyes it 
 nieafured fix inches, and from the eyes to the ears five ; the 
 ears were fix inches long, a little rounded at the tip, but the 
 exterior parts of them were moftly bare. The nofe was 
 peaked ; the head covered with Hiort hair, and of an afh- 
 colour all over ; while, on the other hand, the hair on the 
 reft of the body was thick, harfli, and rough ; on the up- 
 per part of the back the hairs were above a foot long, ef- 
 pecially near the tail ; on the tail itfelf they were fix 
 inches in length, while on the fides and belly they were 
 not above four or five. 
 
 The whifkers were very ftifF and harfli, fome of them 
 being thrice the thicknefs of thofe on the breaft, and five 
 inches in length. A number of ftiff and ftrait hairs, three 
 or four inches long, compofed the eye-brows. The eyes 
 were at the diftance of two inches afunder ; the colour of 
 the fpace between them, as w^ell as on the upper part of 
 the back and tail, was dark brown, as likewife on the legs 
 and thighs ; but on the fides and under the belly it was 
 moufe-black. It was with difficulty that fome dark ftripes 
 could be traced, running from the back -bone down to the 
 fides. 
 
 So that Mr. Pennant's defcription of the hyana canina^ 
 or the canis hysena of Linnaeus, correfponds tolerably 
 
 well,
 
 C A PE OF GOOD HO P E. 167 
 
 well, as to the lize of the animal and the nature of '775- 
 
 ' July. 
 
 the hair, with the fkin I brought with me, and have juft Vn^ryO 
 now defcribed, the fmall differences there may be in the 
 colour being of no great importance : befides, I have ano- 
 ther very good reafon for believing, that one fpecies of 
 the animal called wolves at the Cape, is the hy(2na canina^ 
 fo well defcribed by Mr. Pennant; and this is, that a 
 farmer living near Bott Rlvier^ offered to lay me a confider- 
 able wager, that he could fhew me wolves that were her-^ 
 maphrodites. For this purpofe he intended to lay a poi- 
 foned bait for them, compofed of an extradt of an herb, 
 which he bought of fomebody that lived a great way up 
 the country ; however, I did not accept the wager, part- 
 ly as I had not time to wait for the determination of it, 
 and partly becaufe I was afraid of getting into fome dif- 
 agreeable difpute about the decifion of it ; as perhaps this 
 animal, in like manner as I had feen before in the cafe of 
 the viverra genetta and other creatures, might have a 
 mufk-bag, or follicle, in that part, which might be mif- 
 taken for the female organs of generation. I did not 
 then recolle6t, that Mr. Pennant had remarked an apertvire 
 above the anus in the female of the canis hycenw^ but 
 that the tiger-wolf had nothing of the kind, I could ob- 
 ferve in the female one that was kept alive at the Cape, 
 It is this aperture, as I imagine, that in former times gave 
 room for the affertion, that the hyaena was ufed to change 
 its fex. Perhaps, in like manner, it will be found, that our 
 foa*efathers were not entirely without foundation in the ac- 
 counts they gave (though they were eeutainly carried too far) 
 
 of
 
 iG8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '775- of the hyoena's power to imitate the human voice, and to 
 
 July. 
 
 ^•yO charm the lliephercls, fo that they were not able to llir 
 from the foot they were in. 
 
 I have ah^eady given an account of this creature's power 
 to imitate other animals ; all the country people, wherever 
 I paffed in the courfe of my journey, were agreed on this 
 point. I myfelf, as well as my fellow-traveller, and my 
 Hottentots, together with a boor and his whole family at 
 Gatirits Rivier^ heard a wolf imitate flieep and lambs. 
 That the noife came from the wolf we had reafon to con- 
 clude, partly from our having heard it from the place 
 where he difcovered himfelf, both before and afterwards, 
 by his ufual and peculiar howl ; partly becaufe all the 
 flieep were near at hand, and had been all reckoned before 
 they were folded ; and indeed, partly becaufe the bleating was 
 emitted in rather too fharp a tone, and fo little like the na- 
 tural found, that even the dogs belonging to the farm were 
 fenfible of the trick, and ran out that way barking vio- 
 lently ; but what kind of wolf this was, nobody could in- 
 form me with any certainty. 
 
 A little farther on I fliall have occafion more particu- 
 larly to relate, how we were difturbed in a defert place by 
 a great body of wolves, which, in confequence of the in- 
 fernal noife they made, might, in former times, ealily 
 have induced the fuperftitious fhepherds to believe any 
 conceit whatever, that the firft emotions of their terror 
 could infpire. 
 
 In Lange Kloof, near Gantze Craal Rivier, I was fhewed 
 a little piece of fkin, which was faid to be that of a wolf. 
 
 In
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 169 
 
 In its colour it came nearefl to that of our Swedifh wolves, 1775- 
 
 July. 
 
 but the hair was coarfer and harflier, and was, in my opi- L^vO 
 nion, different from that of both the other forts of hyaena 
 above-mentioned. The Ikin I have defcribed as corre- 
 fponding with the canis hycena^ I bought jufh before my de- 
 parture from the Cape of the late lord lieutenant, or land- 
 rqfl of Zwellenda?n ; who told me, it had been prefented to 
 him by a peafant living in the northern part of his diftridl. 
 This fame peafant, he faid, pretended it was the fkin of 
 a very rare and uncommon animaL It might bev perhaps, 
 that by this means he wifhed to enhance the value of his 
 prefent, though very poffibly in a certain refpe6t it was 
 rare for him ; for wolves are heard, I had almoft faid, 
 every night ; are hardly ever ihot, and very feldom caught, 
 though for this purpofe the country people build little 
 houfes, in which they put flinking carcafes by way of 
 bait. The wolf creeping in here and treading on a 
 fpring, a hatch falls down immediately, and fhuts 
 him in. 
 
 I cannot help once more repeating it, as being fbme^ 
 thing peculiar, that the fkin above defcribed was covered 
 with hairs, a great part of which were above a foot 
 long. As in the warmeft countries the animals are often 
 found mofl deficient with refpe(Sl to hair; and again as it is 
 in the cold climates alone, efpecially againft the winter fets 
 in, that one fees thefe creatures protected from the feverity 
 of the fealbn by furs and long fliaggy hair ; and as nature 
 does nothing without defign, nothing without the wifeft 
 intentions, the quertion has fuggeftcd itfelf to mc, what 
 
 Vol. I. Z occa-
 
 lyo 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^71^' occafion can the hymm canis have, in fo warm a chmatc 
 V>vO as that he inhabits, for fo hairy and warm a covering ? 
 This however may, perhaps, be extremely neceffary in the 
 cold caverns of rocks, and the fubterraneous holes which are 
 allott?ed to this beaft of prey for his habitation. It feems 
 to me likewife to be very ferviceable in the cold, dark, and 
 rainy nights, which are the principal times for this animal 
 to hunt in. Times that moreover, are probably very criti- 
 cal for fuch gazelh and antilopes as are lick and fuperannu- 
 ated. But may not this fur likewife ferve to take off from 
 the fliarpnefs of this animal's hunger ? A good cover for a 
 horfe in winter is, according to the ufual expreflion, equal 
 to half its food : now nature, whofe riches and bounty we 
 acknowledge in other particulars, does not iliow a lefs care- 
 ful provifion in regard to the animal I am fpeaking of. It 
 is necelTary that the animal kingdom fhould be kept in due 
 order and a jufl equilibrium; and fhe makes ufe of certain 
 animals for this purpofe, and therefore has endued the 
 hyaena with a wonderful degree of vigilance, with other 
 means to anfwer thefe her intentions to their full extent ; 
 but being unwilling, and indeed too generous, perpetually 
 to lavifli the more inoffeniive part of the animal creation to 
 the utmoft flretch of this creature's voracious appetite, llie 
 hits upon other methods between whiles to alTwage and damp 
 it. In the fame manner as to the other beafts of prey, llie has 
 given to the wolf likewife the faculty of fleeping out the 
 greateft part of its life, by which means it eats the lefs ; 
 and this creature's warm fur, does not a httle promote na- 
 ■ture's intentions in this refpedL 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 171 
 
 The lion, indeed, is now almoft extirpated from this 'Z^^; 
 part of the country; though it fometimes happens, that ^>^y^ 
 one or two of them come hither farther from the north- 
 wards. One of thefe animals was faid to have done much 
 mifchief at about eleven miles diftance from the bath, at 
 the time that I was there. 
 
 Z 2 CHAP,
 
 lyy A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 CHAR V. 
 
 Journey from the Warm Bath to Zwellendam^ 
 
 ^11^' ' I ^HE time was now come for me to quit the bath, in 
 \^^^L^ A order to fet out upon the long journey I had in view. 
 Mr. Immelman Hkewife now came to me from the Cape, 
 to bear me company according to his promife. But, con- 
 trary to my expedlation, there was fomething ftill wanting 
 of the greateft importance. 
 
 The peafant, who liad undertaken to equip me with 
 w^hat was neceflary for my journey, had taken me in, not only 
 by felling me a team of wretched oxen, but like wife in the 
 driver he procured me. Though he had hired him for me 
 at feven rixdollars per month, exclufive of his vi6luals and 
 tobacco, the fellow knew flill lefs of the road than we did 
 ourfelves. This fame driver had likewife negleiled his 
 duty, in omitting to procure us a Hottentot to lead our 
 oxen. I had every reafon to think, that this omillion was 
 made on purpofe, in order that we might not penetrate far 
 • into the country ; in which cafe he himfelf would have the 
 fewer dangers and difficulties to undergo, and the wear and 
 tear of my waggon would be the lefs; for I plainly perceived, 
 Ihat his principal, or the farmer whom I had commiffioned 
 
 to
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 173 
 
 to agree with him for me, had buoyed himfelf up with the YJJ5- 
 hopes, that he Ihould get my waggon dog cheap at my v,^/-^ 
 return. I therefore agreed with another, who was reckon- 
 ed a fteady and experienced man ; but he, as foon as we 
 imparted to him in confidence our intentions of vifiting the 
 more diftant parts of the country, not only begged to be 
 off the bargain, but hkewife Uncerely and from the bottom 
 of his heart, advifed us to flay at home. By this means 
 we were quite put to our fliifts, not knowing how to get an 
 inch farther. Thougli we now would have gladly put up 
 with the Lego-Hottentots only, we met with a refufal like- 
 wife from them, on our fending to a couple of craals^ or 
 communities, at the diftance of eleven miles from us, in 
 order to make a bargain with them. They excufed them- 
 felves on the account that a great many of their young men 
 were juft dead, and fome of them were flill fick. It feem- 
 •ed they were affli6ted with a bilious fever, a diforder which 
 in general is rather uncommon at the Cape, and is always 
 moft fatal to Haves. But as it was now very rife, and ran 
 very high among the colonifts themfelves, they were uni- 
 verfally alarmed, and my fellow traveller as much as any 
 of them. I, for my part, being an European phyfician, and 
 ufed to much more dangerous epidemics, was in no con- 
 cern whatever, except on account of the mortification and 
 fliame I experienced at finding myfelf in danger of putting 
 an end to my journey for want of a driver. Indeed, I now 
 •wiQied within myfelf, and not without reafon, to have it in 
 my power to exchange one or two of the feven fciences for 
 the ^rt of driving oxen. At length, however, the bailard 
 Hottentot, who lived near the bath in a hut made of hur- 
 dles,
 
 174 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- dies, and who by the bye was but a fad fellow, finding his 
 vj^^ wife and child begin to recover from their putrid fever, 
 undertook, in confideration of fome medicines he had had 
 of me, but chiefly in confideration of the hard money I 
 paid him down upon the nail, to drive my waggon; but 
 no farther than to Zwellendarn^ where Mr. Immelman was 
 in hopes of getting Hottentots eafier. In the mean while, 
 in default of ox-leaders, we were obliged, though on horfe- 
 back, to condefcend, by means of a long rope, ourfelves 
 to perform this office, which in Africa is looked upon in 
 the lowell light imaginable. To give this difagreeable affair 
 a better colour, we gave ourfelves credit wherever we went 
 for undertaking this piece of drudgery, as being the beft 
 method to get rid of the greateft impediment in our jour- 
 ney, and as freeing us from the neceffity of making low 
 fubmiffions to our inferiors, and of being too troublefome 
 to others for their affiftance. By this means, indeed, we 
 made the good people cry us up for what bare neceffity 
 forced us to ; but, for all that, we were neither better nor 
 worfe than ox-leaders. 
 
 On the 2 6th of Auguft we left the bath, and arrived in 
 good time at Steenbock-rivier^ where my patient livedo who 
 had paid me for my vifits with milk and meat, during my 
 refidence at the bath. He had for many years paft ufed 
 the bath himfclf for a violent fwelling and eryfipelas in 
 one of his legs, but was now already relieved by the ufe 
 of iffiies, the leaves of elder, Sec. on which account he 
 fold me the fpirits I wanted to preferve my animals in, at 
 a very reafonable rate, and at the fame time perfuaded me 
 to itay there that night ; but to the great terror and dif- 
 
 quietude
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 175 
 
 quietude of my fellow-traveller, he lodged us in the fame .'775- 
 room ill wliich his fon had lately lain ill of a putrid fever. v*•^-sJ 
 He afterwards gave us a few provifions for our journey, 
 and would oblige us to borrow a porridge-pot of him, 
 which I then conlidered as a troublefome fuperfluitv, but 
 aftersvards found that by prefTing it upon us he had done 
 us a peculiarly kind office. 
 
 On the 27 th we fet out again on our journey, and as 
 the road was good and even all the way, and my Hotten- 
 tot alTured me that he could do very well without any 
 leader, we let him go forward while we rode up to the 
 farm near the road, where we were treated by the owner 
 of it with a rare and delicate difli ; a fort of fparrow or 
 finch (Joxia capenfjs) broiled : a bird that does much mif- 
 chief in the corn-fields, but with its black and yellow 
 plumage makes a beautiful appearance. I have obferved, 
 that this little animal, at the approach of fummer, always 
 changed its yellow for a blood-red hue. 
 
 Our dri^'er, indeed, had not much the flart of us ; but 
 though ^ve puflied very fafl after him, we were not able 
 to overtake him before the evening came on ; we began to 
 fear we had gone out of our road, when at length we met 
 with a drunken European, who was not alhamed to offer 
 himfelf to be my fervant, after having acknowledged that, 
 in company with my Hottentot, he had h^tw getting drunk 
 with the contents of my brandy-cafk. At length we over- 
 took our Hottentot, who, not fo drunk as his companion, 
 denied the fa6l, though the mail of the lock belonging to 
 the calk above-mentioned, was a6lually broke off. Having 
 taken off the oxen, and unfaddled our horfes at the farm 
 
 called
 
 176 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^775- called Gantze CraaL I found that he had likewife filled 
 
 Augufr. 
 
 ^^y^J feveral bottles, in order to treat himfelf and a couple of 
 rafcals of his own kidney, a ballard and a flave, who had 
 come thither with a waggon. 
 
 As the mifchievous difpofition of the favages is carried 
 even to madnefs, and becomes extremely dangerous when 
 they are overloaded vv^ith liquor, I took the brandy from 
 them; but they had already drank themfelves to fuch a 
 pitch of frenzy and boldnefs, as to give me to underftand, 
 that, in cafe they parted with their beloved brandy, they 
 thought of nothing but revenge and murder. As we had 
 feen a Chriftian equally guilty with them, we thought we 
 might and ought to bear with them till the next morning, 
 with all the coolnefs and prudence, which the profecution 
 of our journey and the prefent poilure of our affairs re- 
 quired. 
 
 In the mean time I was obliged to fleep all night long in 
 my waggon to take care of my brandy, by which means I 
 got frelh cold ; for this fame farm of Gantze Craal^ lay on 
 the other fide of the river Zonder End, The next morning 
 we forced our valiant pot-companions, who were now fober, 
 to afk pardon ; and at noon, having found a ferpent, we 
 put it alive into the cafk, in the prefence of every one. 
 My comrade now told them, they might drink as much as 
 they pleafed without lett or hinderance, and added, with a 
 carelefs air, that in that cafe he fhould hope foon to have the 
 pleafure of feeing them burfl with poifon, with other things 
 to that purpofe. Thefe conditions they did not venture 
 to accept ; but gave us plainly to perceive, that they en- 
 vied the venomous creature the pleafure of being drowned 
 
 in
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. T 77 
 
 in fo delicious an element. I now, however, fecured my ^^^^^ 
 lock in the bell manner I was able, that I might not lofe ^•n-O 
 any more of my fpirits, in which I wanted to preferve 
 animals of all forts. Since this, I have heard it reported 
 of the Hottentots living a good way up in the conntrv, 
 that they are not afraid of the leafl ill effects enfuing from 
 fwallowing the poilbn of ferpents, even in an undiluted llate: 
 but on the contrary, look upon it as a medicine, and a prc- 
 fervative againll: the dangerous confequences enfuing from 
 the bite of thefe animals. How the uncultivated Hotten- 
 tots Ihould arrive to the knowledge, that the poifon of fer- 
 pents may be fwallowed without danger, it is not ealV to 
 conjecture, at leafl not with a fufHcient degree of probabi- 
 lity ; but it appears to me moil likely, that the Europeans 
 and Afiatics were firfl apprized of this fact, by fuch as had 
 in vain attempted to take away their own or others lives by 
 means of the poifon of ferpents •'. So that I had Hill reafon 
 to fear, that the Hottentots would not be able to keep them- 
 lelves from this delicious liquor, though they knew that 
 there was a venomous animal preferved in it. I had long 
 before this experienced fomething of the kind at Boft-rk'iery 
 where a Have had intoxicated himfelf by drinking fome 
 fpirits out of a little vefTel in which I kept a toad and the 
 
 * Noxia ferpentum eft adm'ifs fanguine peftis j 
 Morfu virus habent, & fatum dente mirantur : 
 Pocula rnortc carent. Lucan'. L. IX. v. 614 — 616. 
 
 So long ago at leaft, as th€ tim^s in which this poet wrote, has it been obferved, that 
 the poifon of ferpents has no effetSl, except it be mixed with the blood; and indeed, the 
 PjylU are irrefragable proofs, that this property of ferpents has been known in Africa 
 from time immemorial. 1 hey fucked the poifon out of the wounds of perfons bitten 
 by thefe animals, and handled and carelled them, as the modern Egyptians do at this 
 prefent time, without being hurt by them in the leaft : 
 
 Superincumbcns pallentia vulnera lambit. 
 
 Ore venena trahens. Ibid. 933, 
 
 Vol. I. A a foetus
 
 vy8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 foetus of a byjirix. Neither could I preferve my brandy 
 
 '775' 
 
 C^^ from the depredations of my troublefome vifitors, till hav- 
 ing put feveral animals into it, and thefe being fliaken to 
 pieces by the jolting of the waggon, the moft inebriating va- 
 pours of the brandy, by the affiftance of the fun fliiningupon 
 them, were changed into effluvia that were highly difguft- 
 ing, in confequence of the animal particles they contained. 
 Our patience feemed deftined to be tried ftill farther, in 
 the beginning of our journey, by feveral trifling misfor- 
 tunes ; I was obliged to ilay here two days to feek every 
 where, though in vain, after one of the bell cattle in my 
 team. It was a bull, though in Africa thefe are very fel- 
 dom broke in for drawing burdens. It is true they are 
 very hardy, and not fo apt to be feared by wild beafts, but 
 then they are likewife more unruly. Notwithftanding this, 
 they had fold me two oxen fo reftive, that my Hottentots, 
 any more than myfelf, could not take them out or put 
 them into the Avaggon without the greatefl fear and caution. 
 They were all too old and lean for a journey of the extent 
 of that which we had undertaken, and every one of them 
 had fome peculiar fault belides ; in fine, I had got the refufe 
 of the peafant's worft oxen. Befides, I was fo far cheated 
 in the bull, that having excited the jealoufy of fome other 
 bulls, he was butted out of the field by them; and as he 
 had been hunted away over a river, was fuppofed to have 
 taken his flight home ; fo that we could not help fufpedl- 
 ing, that the farmer had this in view when he fold him to me. 
 So liable are we to think ill of thofe who have already deceived 
 us. As I had no opportunity of purchafing a tolerable beall 
 in the room of that which I had loft, I was obliged to drive 
 from this place with only eight oxen; a circumftance that fell 
 
 heavy
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 179 
 
 heavy enough upon them ; befidcs this, the odd one ran loofe HHl^ 
 by the fide of the others, and gave us a great deal of trouble. \^'\J 
 
 On the 30th we arrived at I'iger-hock^ where we put up> 
 This is a farm which government holds in its own hands. On 
 account of its great diilance from the Cape, no advantage 
 can accrue to the company from the vending of corn ; but 
 their mofl confiderable income is timber, which is fetched 
 from a wood on the other fide of rivier Zonder-endy where the 
 company keeps a party of wood-cutters, wliich is under the 
 infpecflion of a corporal, who is at the fame time bailiif of this 
 farm, and has better pay than any corporal in the garrifon. 
 He is likewife to fuperintend the grafs-land and dairy for 
 the advantage of government, and to give an account of 
 the profits. 
 
 The river Zonder-end was now fwelled M\) to its banks, 
 and difficult to pafs, for which reafon I omitted paying a 
 vilit to the wood that lies here ; chiefly as the proper time 
 for felling the trees was not yet come, and as I had belides 
 refolved upon going to much larger forefts, viz. Groot 
 Vaders Bofcb, and Houtniquas, On the banks of the river 
 a craaU or community of Hottentots, to the amount of 
 about thirty perfons, is faid to relide, together with their 
 herds. The chriflians, in fadl, would, it is fuppoled, have 
 elbowed thefc likewife out of this fituation, had not go- 
 vernment found an interefl in permitting them to be near 
 its territories here. 
 
 The men belonging to this craal^ for inflance, were at 
 this time ordered to the Gape with feveral of the com- 
 pany's waggons ; for which fervice, however, they re- 
 ceived payment : fo that I could not hope to have any of 
 them for my own ufe. A Hottentot or two worked at the 
 
 A a 2 farm,
 
 i8o A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^'-y- farm, and their yearly wages, befides their victuals and 
 
 A u ^ u il . , 
 
 V^^^y^j tobacco, were faid to confift of a ewe or two with lamb, 
 or a heifer with calf, or elfe the value of them in money. 
 They are accuflomed, however, chiefly to take cattle for their 
 wages ; but when they have got a little before-hand in the 
 world, they go to houfe-keeping, and are too much at their 
 eafe to undertake any kind of fervice whatfoever. 
 
 This, perhaps, is the belt opportunity I can take to give 
 a fomewhat more accurate defcription of this race of men; 
 namelv, the original inhabitants of the fouthernmoft part 
 of Africa, who are known by the name of Hottentots. 
 
 With regard to their perfons, they are as tall as moft 
 Europeans; and as for their being in general more llender, 
 this proceeds from their being more if inted and curtailed 
 in their food, and likewife fi'om their not ufing themfelves 
 to hard labour. But that they have fmall hands and feet 
 compared with the other parts of their bodies, has been 
 remarked by no one before, and may, perhaps,, be looked 
 upon as a characfteriflic mark of this nation. 
 
 The root of the nofe is moftly very low,, by which 
 means the diftance of the eyes from each other is greater 
 than in Europeans. In like manner, the tip of the nofe 
 is prettv fiat. The iris is fcarcely ever of a light colour, 
 but has generally a dark brown cafl, fometimes approach- 
 ♦ ing to black. 
 
 Their fkin is of a yellowifli brown hue, which fome- 
 thing refembles that of an European who has the jaun- 
 dice in a high degree ; at the fame time, however, this co- 
 lour is not in the leaft obfervable in the whites of the 
 eyes. One does not find fuch thick lips amuong the 
 Hottentots as among their neighbours the NegroeSy the 
 
 7 Caffresy
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. i8r 
 
 Caffresy and the Mozambiques, In fine, their mouths are ^'^75-^ 
 of a middhng fize, and almofl ahvays furniflied with a fet <-^rO 
 of the fineit teeth that can be leen ; and taken together 
 with the reft of their features, as well as their fliape, car- 
 riage, and every motion ; in fhort, their tout enfemble in- 
 dicates health and delight, or at leaft an air oi fans J'ouci, 
 This carelefs mien, however, difcovers marks at the fame 
 time both of alacrity and refolution; qualities which the 
 Hottentots, in facl, can lliow upon occafion. 
 
 The head would appear to be covered with a black, 
 though not very clofe, frizzled kind of wool, if the na- 
 tural harfhnefs of it did not fliow, that it was hair, if 
 pollible, more woolly than that of the negroes. If in other 
 refpects there fhould, by great chance, be obferved any 
 traces of a beard, or of hair in any other parts of the body, 
 fuch as are {qqw on the Europeans, they are, however, very 
 trifling, and generally of the fame kind as that on the head. 
 
 Notwithftanding the refpecl I bear to the more delicate 
 part of my readers, the notoriety of the fa6l prevents me 
 from palling over in this place thofe parts of the body, 
 which our more fcrupulous, but lefs natural manners for- 
 bid me to defcribe any other ways than by the means of 
 circumlocution, Latin terms, or other uncouth, and to 
 moft readers, unintelligible denoniinations and expedients. 
 But thofe who affecl this kind of referve muft pardon me, 
 if I cannot wrap up matters with the nicety their modefty 
 requires ; as my duty obliges me to fliow how much the 
 world has been mifled, and the Hottentot nation been milre- 
 prefented ; inafmuch as the Hottentot v;omen have been de- 
 fcribed, and believed to be, in refpecl to their fexual parts, 
 monfters by nature ; and that the men were made fuch by 
 
 a bar-
 
 1 82 X A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^11'^' a barbarous cuftom. It has been thought, for ex- 
 
 Augull. o ' 
 
 Vw^->te> ample, that theie latter were, at the age of ten years, by 
 a kind of caftration, deprived of one of thofe organs, 
 which nature gives to every male, as being abfolutely ne- 
 cciTary for the proj^agation of his fpecies ; and that the 
 former, or the women, have before their privy parts a 
 natural veil or covering, a circumftance unheard of in the 
 females of any other part of the globe. 
 
 Deferring to a farther opportunity the arguments which 
 are deducible from the abfurdity of the thing itfelf, and the 
 httle dependence to be had on the teftimony of the relater, I 
 fliall only in this place prefent the reader with what I am in a 
 condition to relate with abfolute certainty, being the refult of 
 the enquiries, which out of a due regard to truth, and in re- 
 fpe6l to the importance of the fubjedt, I thought myfelf 
 obliged to make. 
 
 The men are at prefent by no means monorchides,though, 
 perhaps, the time has been when they were fo ; fome other 
 time, however, I fliall make a ftridter enquiry into the 
 matter, and thus give my readers an opportunity of judg- 
 ing for themfelves. 
 
 The women have no parts uncommon to the reft of 
 their fex ; but the clitoris and nymphce^ particularly of thofe 
 who are paft their youth, are in general pretty much elon- 
 gated ; a peculiarity which undoubtedly has got footing in 
 this nation, in confequence of the relaxation neceflarily 
 produced by the method they have of befmearing their 
 bodies, their llothfulnefs, and the warmth of the climate. 
 
 In order to finifli the pi6ture I have here given of the 
 Hottentots, the next thing I have to defcribe is their drefs, 
 
 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 183 
 
 and method of painting themfelves. This latter (if paint- ^tjs- 
 ing it may be called) conlifts in belmearing their bodies all v^y^ 
 over moft copioufly with fat, in which there is mixed up 
 a little foot. This is never wiped off; on the contrary, I 
 never faw them ufe any thing to clean their fkins, except- 
 ing that when, in greafing the wheels of their waggons, 
 their hands were befmeared with tar and pitch, they ufed 
 to get it off very eafily with cow-dung, at the fame time 
 rubbing their arms into the bargain up to the fhoulders 
 with this cofmetic : fo that as the dufl and other filth, to- 
 gether w^ith their footy ointment and the fweat of their 
 bodies, muft necelTarily, notwithftanding it is continually 
 wearing off, in fome meafure adhere to the fkin, it con- 
 tributes not a little to conceal the natural hue of the lat- 
 ter, and at the fame time to change it from a bright um- 
 ber-brown to a brownifh-yellow colour obfcured with filth 
 and naflinefs. 
 
 What has enabled me to determine the natural com- 
 plexion of the Hottentots to be of an umber-yellow co- 
 lour, was merely the fcrupulous nicety of fome few far- 
 mers wives, who made one or two of their Hottentot 
 girls fcower their fkins, that they might not be too filthy 
 to look after their children, or to do any other bufincfs 
 that required cleanlinefs. 
 
 It is afferted by many of the colonifts, that by this 
 fcowering and wafliing the Hottentots looks are not at all 
 improved. They feem to think, that their natural yel- 
 low-brown hue was to the full as difagreeable as that which 
 is produced by their befmearing themfelves; and that a 
 befmeared Hottentot looks lefs naked, as it were, and more 
 
 complete,
 
 i84 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '775- complete, than one in his natural flate ; and that the fkia 
 
 ^^•v-O of a Hottentot ungreafed feems to exhibit fome defe6t in 
 
 drefs, like flioes that want blacking, 8cc. Whether this 
 
 fancy is mofl founded in cuftom or in the nature of things, 
 
 I Ihall leave to others to determine. 
 
 Befides the pleafure the Hottentots enjoy in befmearing 
 their bodies from head to foot, they likewife perfume 
 them with a powder of herbs, with which they powder 
 both their heads and bodies, rubbing it in all over them 
 when they befmear themfelves. The odour of it is at 
 the fame time rank and aromatic {narcotico- feu papaveri- 
 no fpirans) and feems to come nearefl to that of the pop- 
 py mixed with fpices. The plants ufed for this purpofe 
 are various fpecies of the diofma, called by the Hottentots 
 bucku^ and confidered by them as polTefling great virtues 
 in curing diforders. Some of thefe fpecies are very com- 
 , mon round about the Cape; but one particular fort, which 
 I am told grows about Goud's-riviery is faid to be fo valu- 
 able, that no more than a thimble full of it is given in 
 exchange for a lamb. 
 
 The Hottentots, with their Ikins drefled up with greafe 
 and foot, and bucku-^o\\'^QYy are by this means in a great 
 meafure defended from the influence of the air, and may 
 in a manner reckon themfelves full drelTed. In other re- 
 fpedts, both men and women are wont to appear quite 
 undreiTed ; indeed, I may fay naked, except a trifling co- 
 vering, with which they always conceal certain parts of 
 their bodies. 
 
 With the men this covering confifls of a bag or flap 
 made of fkin, hanging quite open, the hollow part of 
 
 which
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 185 
 
 which feems defigned to receive that which with us mo- ^l^l'f^ 
 defty requires to be concealed ; but as this piece of fur- v.^^y-^*-' 
 niture is only f aliened by a fmall part of its upper end 
 to a narrow belt (See Plate VIL fig. 6.) in other refpe<£ls 
 hanging quite loofe, it is but a very imperfe6t conceal- 
 ment ; and when the wxarer is walking or otherwife in 
 motion, it is none at all. They call this purfe by the 
 Dutch name of jackall^ the name of an animal of the fox 
 kind common in that country, as it is almoft always pre- 
 pared of the ikin of this creature, with the hairy fide 
 turned outwards. 
 
 As another covering, which decency requires of the 
 men, we ought perhaps to confider the two leather flraps, 
 which generally hang from the bottom of the chine of 
 the back down upon the thighs ; each of them being of 
 the form of an ifofceles triangle, with their points or upper 
 ends fattened on the belt jufl mentioned, and with their 
 bafes, at fartheft three fingers broad, hanging carelefsly 
 down. Thefe flraps have very little drefTmg beflowed 
 upon them, fo that they make fomewhat of a rattling as 
 the Hottentot runs along ; and probably by fanning him, 
 ferve to produce an agreeable coolnefs. The only and real 
 intention, however, of this part of their drefs, is faid to 
 be to clofe a certain orifice when they fit down. They are 
 at that time, in like manner, brought forwards, each on its 
 particular fide, fo as to cover and clofe over the little flap 
 above defcribed ; for, faid they to me, thefe parts fliould 
 by no means be uncovered when one fits, efpecially at 
 meals. Neverthelefs, I obferved them fometimcs negle6t 
 this decent cuflom. 
 
 Vol. I. B b Among
 
 x86. 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775. Among the Hottentots, as well as in all probability 
 
 yl^^ among the reft of mankind difperfed over the whole globe, 
 we muft acknowledge the fair fex to be the moft modeft ; 
 for the females of this nation, cover themfelves much more 
 fcrupuloufly than the men. They feldom content them- 
 felves with one covering, but almoft always have two, and 
 very often three. Thefe are made of a prepared and 
 well-greafed Ikin, and are fattened about their bodies with 
 a thong, almoft like the aprons of our ladies. The outer- 
 moft is always the largeft, meafuring from about fix inches 
 to a foot over. This is likewife generally the fineft and 
 moft Ihowy, and frequently adorned with glafs beads ftrung 
 in different figures, in a manner that fhows, even among 
 the unpoliflied Hottentots, the fuperior talents and tafte of 
 the fair fex relative to drefs and ornament, as well as their 
 powers of invention and difpofition to fet off their perfons 
 to the beft advantage. 
 
 The outermoft apron, which is chiefly intended for fhow 
 and parade, reaches about half way down the thighs. The 
 middle one is about a third, or one half lefs, and is faid by 
 them to be neceffary by way of referve, and as an addi- 
 tional entrenchment of modefty, when their gala-gar- 
 ment is laid afide. The third, or innermoft, which is 
 fcarcely larger than one's hand, is faid to be ufeful at cer- 
 tain periods, which are much lefs troublefome to the fair 
 fex here than in Europe. All thefe aprons, however, even 
 to that which is decorated with beads, are not lefs be- 
 fmeared and greafy than their bodies. 
 
 So that it was probably fome of thefe aprons, particu- 
 larly the innermoft, which milled the reverend jefuit 
 
 Tackard,
 
 CAPE OK GOOD HOPE. 187 
 
 Tackar'd, who, on his return to Europe, fir ft propa- /J^j^- 
 gated thole ftories concerning the natural veils or ex- V^4^ 
 crefcences of the Hottentot women. Thefe females, more- 
 over, are careful, as a matter of decency, to pull their 
 aprons tight about them, fo as to reach under their feat 
 when they lit down. 
 
 In other refpe<5ls, the garment worn by the Hottentots 
 for covering their bodies is a fheep-lkin, with the woolly 
 fide turned inwards ; this pelliiTe, or a cloak made of 
 fbme fmaller fur, is tied forwards over the breaft. When 
 the weather is not cold, they let it hang loofe over their 
 ilioulders in a carelefs manner, when it reaches down to 
 the calves of the legs, leaving the lov»xr part of the 
 breaft, ftomach, and fore part of the legs and thighs bare ; 
 but in rainy and cold weather they wrap it round them ; 
 fo that the fore part of the body likewife, is in fome mea- 
 fure covered with it as far as below the knees. 
 
 As one flieep-fkin alone is not fufficient for this pur- 
 pofe, there is a piece fewed on at the top on each fide, (or 
 to fpeak more properly) faftened on with a thong, finew 
 or catgut. In warmer w^eather they wear this cloak fome- 
 times with the hairy fide outwards, but in that cafe they 
 oftener take it off entirely and carry it on their arms. In 
 general, the Hottentots do not burden themfelves with a 
 great many changes of thefe cloaks or krqffesy (as they 
 call them in broken Dutch) but are content with one, 
 which ferves them at the fame time for clothing and bed- 
 ding; and in this they lie on the bare ground, drawing 
 themfelves up in a heap fo clofe, efpecially when the wea- 
 
 B b ^ ther
 
 1 88 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »775- ther is cold, that this krofs (as they call it) or karofs^ i^ 
 sj^^^ quite fufficient to cover them. 
 
 The cloak, or karofs, which is ufed by the women for 
 the fame purpofe, does not differ from thofe ufed by the 
 men in any other refpecSt, than that the w^omen have a 
 long peak on their karqffes, which they turn up, forming 
 with it a hood or litrie pouch, with the hairy fide in- 
 wards. In this they carry their little children, to which 
 their mothers breafls are now and then thrown over the 
 Ihoulders, a pra6tice that likewife prevails with fome other 
 nations. 
 
 The men in general wear no peculiar covering on their 
 heads. I fcarce remember to have feen above two, that 
 had a cap made of a greafed fkin, the fur of which had 
 been taken off in the preparation. Thofe who live neareft 
 to the colonifls, fancy the European hats, wearing them 
 ilouched all round, or elfe with one fide turned tip. 
 
 The women in like manner frequently go bare-headed. 
 When they cover their heads, it is with a cap in the form 
 of a fliort truncated cone. It is made without any feam, 
 of the fegment of fome animal's flomach, and is as black 
 as foot mixed up with fat can make it. Thefe are fre- 
 quently fo prepared, as to look as if they w^ere fhaggy, 
 and others again like velvet, and upon the w^hole make 
 a tolerably handfome appearance. (See Plate IX.) 
 
 Over this cap they fometimes wear another ornament, 
 confifting of an oval wreath, or, if the reader pleafes, a 
 crown made of a buffaloe's hide, with the brown hair out- 
 wards. (See Plate VII. fig. 5.) This is about the breadth 
 
 of
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 189 
 
 of four fingers in height, and furrounds the head {o as to ^^^75^ 
 go a Httle way down upon the forehead, and the fame L^vO 
 depth into the neck behind, without covering the upper 
 part of the cap above defcribed. Both edges of this wreath, 
 as well the lower one on which it refts, as the upper one, 
 are always fmooth and even, and each of them fet with a 
 row of fmall fhells, of the cyprea kind, to the number of 
 more than thirty, in a manner, that being placed quite 
 clofe to each other, their beautiful white enamel, together 
 with their mouths, is turned outwards. Between thefe 
 t^vo rows of fhells run one or two morc in a parallel line, 
 or elfe are waved or indented in various tafles. It may 
 eafily be imagined, what a pretty efFecft thefe fhells have, 
 flicking out of the brown fur of the bufFaloe's fkin, and at 
 the fame time, with what additional charms a greafy Hot- 
 tentot dame appears in a cap and wreath to the full as 
 greafy as herfelf* 
 
 The ears of the Hottentots are never adorned with any 
 pendant or other ornament hanging from them, any more 
 than the nofe, as they both are among other favages ; this 
 latter, however, is fometimes by way of greater ftate, mark- 
 ed with a black ftreak of foot, or, more rarely indeed, with 
 a large fpot of red-lead ; of which latter, on high days and 
 holidays, they like wife put a little on their cheeks. 
 
 The necks of the men are bare, but thofe of the women 
 are decorated with what is, in their opinion, a great orna- 
 ment. It confifts of a thong of undrefTed leather, upon 
 which are flrung eight or ten fliells. Thefe, which are 
 about the fize of beans, have a white ground, with large 
 black fpots of different fizes ; but as they are always m.ade 
 
 ulc
 
 1 90 A V O Y A G E T r m 
 
 '77)- ufe of ill a burniilied flatc, I cannot fay with anv dcpree 
 v.^^-nJ of certainty, whether they are of that fort which is re- 
 ceived in the Syjlem of Natiire under the denomination of 
 nerita albicillay or exuvia. Appearing collectively in the 
 form of a necklace, they certainly adorn the greafy part they 
 are hung upon, though perhaps not in proportion to the 
 price at which they are obtained ; for thefe iliells are com- 
 monly fold for not lefs than a flieep a piece, as it is faid 
 they are to be had no where elfe than on the moll: diflant 
 coall of Gaffria. (See Plate VII. fig. 2.) 
 
 The lower part of the body is the principal place on 
 which both fexes, by more Ihowy ornaments, feemingly 
 wifli to fix each others attention. For though they very 
 much fancy, and confequently purchafe the glafs beads of 
 Europe, efpecially the blue and white ones of the fize of a 
 pea, yet the women rarely, and the men never, wear them 
 about their neck ; though both fexes tie one or more rows 
 of thefe beads round their middle, next the girdle to 
 which the coverings or aprons above-mentioned are fatt- 
 ened. 
 
 To conclude, another ornament in ufe with both fexes, 
 is rings on their arms and legs. Mofl of thefe rings are 
 made of thick leather ftraps, generally cut in a circular 
 ^ fliape, which by being beat and held over the fire, are 
 rendered tough enough to retain the curvature that is given 
 them. It is thefe rings that have given rife to the almoft 
 \iniverfally received notion, that the Hottentots wrap guts 
 about their legs, in order to eat them occafionally. The 
 men wear from one to five or fix of thefe rings on their 
 arms, jufl above the wrifV, but feldom any on their legs. 
 
 8 The
 
 C A PE OF G O O D H OP E. 191 
 
 The matrons of a higher rank frequently have a confider- ^'^7^ 
 able number of them both on their arms and legs, efpe- v^^vO 
 dally on the latter, fo that they are covered with them 
 from the feet up to their knees. (See Plate IX.) Thefe 
 rings are of various thickneffes, viz. fometimes of that of 
 a goofe-quill, and fometimes two or three times that fize. 
 Now and then they are made of pieces of leather, forming 
 one entire ring, fo that the arms and feet mufl be put 
 through them when the wxarer wdfhes to put them on. 
 Upon the legs they are ftrung on, fmall and great, one 
 with another, without any peculiar nicety ; and are fo much 
 larger than the legs, as to fliake off and get twifted, w^hen 
 the wearer walks or is in motion. 
 
 It may eafily be imagined, that thefe rings give the good 
 Flottentot matrons a work! of trouble, as well in the wear 
 as in the preparation ; and at the fame time are not a little 
 clumfy and ponderous, not to mention feveral other incon- 
 veniencies. But fuch is the peculiar turn of mankind, that 
 from the Hottentot, as unconftrained as rude in his manners,, 
 to thofe nations which carry the arts and fciences to the 
 higheft degree of perfedion, they are univerfally apt to 
 fall into fach modes of drefs, as are not only ufelefs, but 
 likewife in a great meafure impriibn their bodies and limbs. 
 
 Rings of iron or copper, but efpecially of brafs, of the 
 fize of a goofe-quill, are confidercd as genteeler and more 
 valuable than thofe made of leather. They are, however, 
 fometimes worn along with thefe latter, to the number of 
 fiK or eight at a time, particularly on the arms. The girls 
 are not allowed to ufe any rings, till they are marriageable;. 
 A traveller, that was pailing through the diftridl of ZT^t/-
 
 iqi 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 lendamt endeavoured to afTail the chaftity of a Hottentot 
 girl, about fixteen or feventeen years of age, but in every 
 other refpedt quite a woman : it is faid, however, that fhe 
 refufed his prefents and offers, principally for this reafon, 
 that the old people in her craal had not yet invefled her 
 with the privilege of wearing rings. Whether this fame law 
 prevails in every craal^ I cannot pretend to fay ; but it 
 does not feem extremely probable to me, that the girls in 
 every craal are fo obedient to the laws. 
 
 The Hottentots feldom wear any flioes. Thofe that are 
 in ufe with the Hottentots hereabouts, as well as a great 
 many more of their countrymen, are of the form repre- 
 fented in Plate VII. fig. 4. The fame are worn likewife by 
 moft of the African peafants, and, as -I have lince heard, by 
 the EJlhonians and Livonians^ and alfo by fome Finlanders; 
 fo that I cannot fay for certain, whether they are the inven- 
 tion of the Hottentots, or brought to them by the Dutch. The 
 leather of which thefe flioes are made is undrefTed, with 
 the hairy fide outwards ; and undergoes no other prepara- 
 tion, than that of being beat and moiilened. If it be of a 
 thick or flout fort, as for example, of buffaloe's hide, it is 
 befides kept fome hours in cow-dung, by which means it 
 is rendered very foft and pliable. Afterwards fome kind 
 of greafe is made ufe of for the fame purpofe. The fhoes 
 are then made of this leather in the following manner : 
 they take a piece of leather of a recSlangular form, fome- 
 thing longer and broader than the foot of the perfon for 
 whom the fhoes are intended. The two foremoft corners 
 are doubled up together, and fewed down, fo as to cover 
 the forepart of the foot. This feam may be avoided, and 
 
 the
 
 C A PE OF GO OD H O P E. 193 
 
 the fhoes may be made much neater at the toes, by fitting H'^I'q. 
 immediately over them a cap taken from the membrane in V^v^J 
 the knee joint of the hind leg of fome animal. Now in 
 order to make this piece of lldn or leather rife up to the 
 height of an inch on both fides of the foot, and clofe it in 
 neatly, it is pierced with holes at fmall diftances all round 
 the edge, as far as the hind quarters, and through thefe 
 holes is paiTed a thong, by which the rim is drawn up into 
 ' gathers ; farther, in order to make fi:rong hind-quarters, 
 the back part of the piece of leather is doubled inwards, 
 and then raifed up and prelTed along the heel. The ends 
 of the thong, or gathering-firing, are then threaded on both 
 fides through the upper edge of the hind-quarters to the 
 height of about two inches ; they are then carried forwards, 
 in order to be drawn through two of the above-mentioned 
 holes on the infide of each rim. They are then tied over 
 the inftep, or, if it be thought necefiary to tie the flioe 
 fiill fafter, they are carried crofi'ways over the inftep, and fo 
 downwards under the thong, which comes out from the 
 hind-quarters, then upwards again over the ankle, and even 
 round the leg itfelf, if the wearer chufes. 
 
 Shoes of this kind are certainly not without their ad- 
 vantages. They fit as neat upon the foot as a fiocking, 
 and at the fame time preferve their form. They are eafily 
 kept foft and pliable, by conftantly wearing them. Should 
 they at any time grow rather hard above the edge, this 
 is eafily remedied by beating them and greafing them a little. 
 They are extremely light and cool, by- reafon that they do 
 not cover fo much of the foot as a common fiioc does. 
 They wear very well, as they are without any feam, and 
 
 Vol. I. C c the
 
 194 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ,^775; the foles, or rather bottoms of the flioes, are both tou^h and 
 Ov^ yielding. As ilioes of the common tanned leather are burnt 
 np, as it were, and are apt to flip and Aide about in the 
 fcorching African fands, and at the fame time are eafily torn 
 in a flony and rocky foil, thefe field Hioes, as they are called, 
 made of almofl raw leather, are much more durable. Thefe 
 may be like wife had at a much inferior price, as the lea- 
 ther ufed in the making of them is almofl entirely un- 
 dreffed ; and a man can make himfelf a pair of them in 
 the fpace of an hour or tsvo. Some advantage, efpecially 
 \vith regard to ceconomy, would, in my opinion, accrue, if 
 the ufe of thefe flioes was, in fome meafure, introduced 
 amongfl us, particularly in fummer time. To failors they 
 would feem, as being very light, to be particularly ufeful. 
 I have brought home with me a pair of them, that I wore 
 in my expedition into the country, that they may ferve for 
 a model, in cafe any body fliould be inclined to have a pair 
 made by way of making a trial of them. Whatever is ufe- 
 ful, whether it com.e from Paris or the country of the Hot- 
 tentots^ alike defer ves our attention and imitation. 
 
 The Hottentots who live in thefe parts, or within the 
 boundaries of the Dutch colonies, feldom make ufe of any 
 weapons. Here and there, indeed, a man will furnifh him- 
 felf with a javelin, by way of defence againft the wolves : 
 this is called a hajfagai^ and is delineated in Plate VIII. fig. r 
 and 2, and will be defcribed farther on, when we come to 
 fpeak of the more diftant nations of the Hottentots. 
 
 Their habitations are as fimple as their drefs, and equally 
 
 adapted to the wandering paftoral life they lead in thofe 
 
 parts. In fa6t, they fcarcely merit any other name than 
 
 I that
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 195 
 
 that of huts ; though, perhaps, as fpacious and eligible as j^^'^ll^ 
 the tents and dwelling-places of the patriarchs, at leaft they ^-^w-/ 
 are fufficient for the Hottentot's wants and defires ; who 
 may therefore be conlidered as a happy man, in being able 
 in this point like wife fo eafily to fatisfy them. The great 
 fimplicity of them is, perhaps, the reafon, why in a Hot- 
 tentot's craal, or village, the huts are all built exadlly alike ; 
 and that one meets there with a fpecies of architecture, 
 that does not a little contribute to keep envy from infinu- 
 ating itfelf under their roofs. The equality of fortune 
 and happinefs in fome meafure enjoyed by thefe people, 
 cannot but have a lingular effect in preventing their breafls 
 from being difturbed by this baneful paffion. 
 
 Every hut is difpofed in the following manner. Some 
 of them are of a circular, and others of an oblong fhape, 
 refembling a round bee-hive or a vault. The ground-plot 
 is from eighteen to twenty-four feet in diameter. The 
 higheft of them are fo low, that even in the center of the 
 arch, it is fcarcely ever pofQbie for a middle-fized man to 
 Hand upright. But neither the lownefs thereof, nor that 
 of the door, which is but jufl three feet high, can perhaps 
 be conlidered as any inconvenience to a Hottentot, who 
 finds no difficulty in {looping and crawling on all fours, 
 and who is at any time more inclined to lie down than 
 fland. 
 
 The fire-place is in the middle of each hut, by which 
 means the walls are not fo much expofed to danger from fire. 
 From this Htuation of their fu'e-place, the Hottentots like- 
 wife have this additional advantage, that when they fit 
 
 C c 2 or
 
 igG A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '775; or lie ill a circle round the fire, the whole company equally 
 V^'x^ enjoys the benefit of its warmth. 
 
 The door, low as it is, is the only place that lets in the 
 day-light ; and at the fame time, the only outlet that is left 
 for the fmoke. The Hottentot, inured to it from his in^ 
 fancy, fees it hover round him, without feeling the leafl 
 inconvenience ariling from it to his eyes; while lying at 
 the bottom of his hut in the midft of the cloud rolled up 
 like a hedgehog, and wrapped up fnug in his fheep-fkin, 
 he is now and then obliged to peep out from beneath it 
 in order to flir the fire, or perhaps light his pipe, or elfe 
 fometimes to turn the fleak he is broiling over the coals. 
 
 The materials for thefe huts are by no means difficult 
 to be procured; and the manner of putting them toge- 
 ther being both neat and inartificial, merits commendation 
 in a Hottentot, and is very fuitable to his character The 
 frame of this arched roof, as I have defcribed it above, 
 is compofed of flender rods or fprays of trees. Thefe rods, 
 being previoufly bent into a proper form, are laid, either 
 whole or pieced, fome parallel with each other, others 
 crofTvvife ; they are then flrengthened, by binding others 
 round them in a circular form with withies. Thefe 
 withies, as well as the rods themfelves, are taken, as well 
 as I can recolledt, chiefly from the diffortia conoides^ which 
 grows plentifully in this country near the rivers. Large 
 mats are then placed very neatly over this lattice-work, fo 
 as perfectly to cover the whole. The aperture which is 
 left for the door is clofed, whenever there is occafion for 
 it, with a fkin fitted to it, or a piece of matting. Thefe 
 mats are made of a kind of cane or reed. Thefe reeds, 
 
 being
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 197 
 
 being laid parallel to each other, are faflened together with ^^^75-^^ 
 iinews or catgut, or elfe feme kind of packthread, fuch V^/vn^^ 
 as they have had an opportvinity of getting from the Eu- 
 ropeans. They have it, therefore, in their power, to make 
 their mats as long as they chufe, and at the fame time as 
 broad as the length of the rtifh wdll admit of, viz. from- 
 iix to ten feet. This fame kind of matting is now made 
 ufe of likewife by the colonifts, next to the tilts of their 
 waggons, by w^ay of preventing the fail-cloth from being 
 nibbed and worn by them, as w^ ell as of helping to keep 
 out the rain. 
 
 When a Hottentot has a mind to take his houfe dow^n 
 and remove his dwelling, he lays all his mats, fkins, and 
 fprays on the backs of his cattle, which to a flranger 
 makes a monflrous, unwieldy, and, indeed, ridiculous ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 The order or diflribution of thefe huts in a craal or 
 clan, is moil frequently in the form of a circle with the 
 doors inwards ; by this means a kind of yard or court is 
 formed, where the cattle is kept on nights. The milk, 
 as foon as taken from the cow^, is put to other milk which 
 is curdled, and is kept in a leather fack ; of this the hairy 
 lide, being conlidered as the cleanlier, is turned inwards : 
 fo that the milk is never drank while it is fweet. In cer- 
 tain northern diflridts, fuch as Roggeveld^ or Bokveld, where 
 the land is, as it is called, carrow^ or dry and parched, the 
 Hottentots, as well as the colonifts, are fhepherds. 
 
 There is another fpecies of Hottentots, w^ho have got 
 the name of bojhies-meii^ from dwelling in woody or 
 mountainous places. Thefe, particularly fuch as live 
 
 round
 
 1^8 A VOYAGE to the -^ 
 
 ^775- round about Camdebo and Sneeberg^, are fworn enemies to 
 ijl^^ the paftoral life. Some of their maxims are, to live on 
 hunting and plunder, and never to keep any animal alive 
 for the fpace of one night. By this means they render 
 themfelves odious to the reft of mankind, and are purfued 
 and exterminated like the wild beafts, whofe manners they 
 have alTumed. Others of them again are kept alive, and 
 made flaves of. Their weapons are poifoned arrows, 
 Avhich, fliot out of a fmall bow, will fly to the diftance of 
 two hundred paces ; and will hit a mark with a tolerable 
 degree of certainty, at the diftance of fifty, or even a hun- 
 dred paces. From this diftance they can by ftealth, as it 
 were, convey death to the game they hunt for food, as 
 well as to their foes, and even to fo large and tremendous 
 - a beaft as the lion : this noble animal thus falling by a 
 weapon which, perhaps, it defpifed, or even did not take 
 notice of. The Hottentot, in the mean time, concealed 
 and fafe in his ambufti, is abfolutely certain of the opera- 
 tion of his poifon, which he always culls of the moft 
 virulent kind ; and it is faid, he has only to wait a few 
 minutes, in order to fee the wild beaft languifli and die. 
 
 I mentioned that their bows were fmall ; they are, in fa6l, 
 hardly a yard long, being at the fame time fcarcely of the 
 thicknefs of an inch in the middle, and very much pointed at 
 both ends. What kind of wood they are made of I cannot 
 fay, but it does not feem to be of a remarkably elaftic nature. 
 The ftrings of the bows that I faw were made fome of them 
 of fmews, others of a kind of hemp, or the inner bark of 
 fome vegetable, and moft of them are made in a very floven- 
 ly manner ; which ftiows, that thefe archers depend more 
 
 on
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 199 
 
 on the poifon of their weapons, than on any exaclnefs in ^^^^^^ 
 the formation of them, or any other perfection in them. ^»>'vv-^ 
 One of thefe bows is dehneated in Plate VIII. fig. 3. 
 
 Their arrows are a foot and a half long, and of the 
 fame thicknefs, as they appear in the drawings in Plate 
 VIII. fig. 6, 7. They are made of a reed one foot in 
 length, which, at the bafe, or the end that receives the 
 bow-ftring, has a notch of a proper lize to fit it. Juft 
 above this notch there is a joint in the reed, about which 
 firings made of finews are wound, in order to flrengthen it. 
 The other end of the reed is armed with a highly poliflied 
 bone, five or fix inches long. At the diflance of an inch 
 or two from the tip of this bone, a piece of a quill is bound 
 on very faft with finews, in the fame manner as may be 
 feen in fig. 4 and 7. This is done, in order that the ar- 
 row fliall not be eafily drawn out of the flefh; and thus there 
 may be fo much the longer time for the poifon, which is 
 Ipread on of a thick confidence like that of an extract, 
 to be dilTolved, and infeCl the wound. 
 
 It is not common, however, for an arrow to be headed 
 in the manner above-mentioned, with a pointed bone onlv; 
 this- latter being ufually cut fquare at the top, and a thin 
 triangular bit of iron fixed into it, as may be feen in Plate 
 VIII. fig. 4. where the upper part of the arrow is re- 
 prefented without any poifon on it ; for with this the 
 binding is covered and befmeared, the fame being after- 
 wards rubbed down level and fmooth all round the fliaft, 
 that the arrow may pierce fo much the deeper into the 
 flefh. As the bone before fpoken of has no cavity what- 
 ever, I do not profefs to know what animal it is taken 
 
 from.
 
 200 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- from. In the flate in which it is feen, as it makes part 
 k,J^^ of the arrow, it is of a dark brown colour, full of fmall 
 grooves and ribs, and does not appear ever to have been as 
 white as ivory ; though, for one of the arrows which I 
 brought with me, it would feem as if ivory had been 
 really made ufe of. Hence we may conclude, that on fuch 
 arrows as are headed with iron, the bone is employed 
 chiefly for giving this weapon a kind of weight and poife ; 
 and likewife, that thefe arrows coft the Hottentots a great 
 deal of labour. 
 
 Their quivers (vide Plate VIII. fig. 5.) are two feet long 
 and four inches in diameter. If one may draw any con- 
 clufion from thofe I have feen, and from two that I have 
 brought home with me, they are made of a branch of a 
 tree hollowed out ; or, Itill more probably, of the bark of 
 one thefe branches taken off whole and entire, the bot- 
 tom and cover to which are compofed of leather. On the 
 outfide it is bedaubed with an uncSluous matter, that grows 
 hard when dry. Both the quivers I brought with me, 
 are lined about the aperture with a ferpent's fkin; and, as 
 I was told, with the Ikin of the yellow ferpent, which is 
 confidered as the moft venomous of any in that country, 
 Befides a dozen of arrows, every quiver contains a flender 
 hone of fand-ftone for whetting the iron head, and a brufh 
 for pvitting on the poifon, together with a few wooden 
 fticks, differing in thicknefs, but all of the fame length 
 with the arrows, for what ufe thefe are defigned, I am 
 entirely ignorant. The poifon is taken from feveral dif- 
 ferent kinds of ferpents, the more venomous the better ; 
 whether their arrows are to be employed againft their foes, 
 
 or
 
 G A P E OF G O O D H O P E. ioi 
 
 or are only defigned for fliooting game ; for, as I have /^"^A 
 obferved before, the Hottentots know very well, that taken v,^^-o 
 internally it is quite harmlefs. 
 
 The dwellings of thefe foes to a pafloral life are gene- 
 rally not more agreeable, than their maxims and manners. 
 Like the wild beads, bufhes and clifts in rocks by turns 
 ferve them inftead of houfes ; and fome of them are faid to 
 be fo far w^orfe than beafts, that their foil has been found 
 ciofe by their habitations. A great many of them are en- 
 tirely naked, but fuch as hava been able to procure the 
 fkin of any fort of animal, great or fmall, cover their bo- 
 dies with it from the flioulders downwards as far as it will 
 reach, wearing it till it falls off their backs in rags. As "' 
 ignorant of agriculture as apes and monkies, like them 
 they are obliged to wander about over hills and dales after 
 certain wild roots, berries, and plants (which they eat raw) 
 in order to fuflain a life that this miferable food w^ould foon 
 extinguifh and deflroy, were they ufed to better fare. 
 
 Their table, however, is fometimes compofed of feveral 
 other diflies, among which may be reckoned the larvae 
 of infedls, or thofe kind of caterpillars from which but- 
 terflies are generated ; and in like manner a fort of white 
 ants, (the termes) graflioppers, fnakes, and fome forts of 
 fpiders. With all thefe changes of diet, the Bo^fbies-man 
 is neverthelefs frequently in w^ant, and famiflied to fuch a 
 , degree, as to wafte almoft to a fliadow. It was with no fmall 
 aftonifliment, that I for the firft time faw in Lange Kloof a 
 lad belonging to this race of men, with his face, arms, 
 legs and body fo monftroully fmall and withered, that I 
 could not have been induced to fuppofe but that he had 
 
 Vol. I. D d been
 
 202 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775- been brought to that ilate by the fever that was epidemic 
 v»/-v^ in thofe parts, had I not {een him at the fame time run 
 like a lapwing. It required but a few wxeks to bring one 
 of thefe ftarvelings to a thriving ftate, and even to make 
 him fat ; their ftomachs being llrong enough to digeft the 
 great quantity of food with which they are crammed, as they 
 may rather be faid to bolt than eat; it fometimes happens, 
 indeed, that they cannot long retain what they have taken 
 in ; but this circumftance, it is faid, does not hinder them 
 from beginning again upon a new fcore. 
 
 The capture of Haves from among this race of men is 
 by no means difficult, and is effe6led in the following man- 
 ner. Several farmers, that are in want of fervants, join 
 together, and take a journey to that part of the country 
 w^here the Bopnes-men live. They themfelves, as well as 
 their Lego-Hottentots, or elfe fuch Bolhies-men as have 
 been caught fome time before, and have been trained up 
 to fidelity in their fervice, endeavour to fpy out w^here 
 the wild Bolliies-men have their haunts. This is beft 
 difcovered by the fmoke of their fires. They are found 
 in focieties from ten to fifty and a hundred, reckoning 
 great and fmall together. Notwithftanding this, the far- 
 mers will venture on a dark night to let upon them with 
 fix or eight people, which they contrive to do, by previoufly 
 ftationing themfelves at fome diltance round about the 
 craaL They then give the alarm by firing a gun or two. 
 By this means there is fuch a confiernation fpread over the 
 whole body of thefe favages, that it is only the moft bold 
 and intelligent among them, that have the courage to break 
 through the circle and fi:eal off. Thefe the captors are 
 
 glad
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 203 
 
 glad enough to get rid of at fo eafy a rate, being better ^^Jpji 
 pleafed with thofe that are Hupid, timorous, and flruck with ^»-^^>-/ 
 amazement, and who conlequently allow themfelves to be 
 taken and carried into bondage. They are, however, at 
 iiril, treated by gentle methods ; that is, the vi6lors inter- 
 mix the fairefl promifes with their threats, and endeavour, 
 if poilible, to flioot fome of the larger kinds of game for 
 their prifoners, fuch as buffaloes, fea-cows, and the like. 
 Such agreeable baits, together with a little tobacco, foon 
 induce them, continually cockered and feafted as they are, 
 to go with a tolerable degree of chearfulnefs to the colo- 
 niil's place of abode. There this luxurious junketting up- 
 on meat and fat is exchanged for more moderate portions, 
 confitling for the moft part of butter-milk, frumenty, and 
 hafty-pudding. This diet, neverthelefs, makes the Bofloies- 
 man^ as I faid before, fat in a few weeks. However, he 
 foon finds his good living embittered by the maundering 
 and grumbling of his mailer and miftrefs. The words 
 fguzeri and fgannatfi^ which, perhaps, are befl tranflated 
 by thofe of young forcerer and imp^ are expreffions which 
 he mult frequently put up with, and fometimes a few 
 ciirfes and blows into the bargain; and this for negle6l, 
 remifTnefs or idlenefs : which lail failure, if it cannot be 
 faid to be born with him, is however in a manner natura- 
 lifed in him. So that, both by nature and cuflom, de- 
 tefling all manner of labour, and now, from his greater 
 corpulency, becdmiug ftill more flothful, and having befides 
 been ufed to a wandering life, fubjedf to no control, he 
 moft fenfibly feels the Want of his liberty. No wonder 
 then, that he generally endeavours to regain it by making 
 
 D d 2 his
 
 204 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^Ti'i- his efcape : but what is really a fubjedt for wonder is, that, 
 \^r^r^ v/hen one of thefe poor devils runs away from his fervice, 
 or more properly bondage, he never takes with him any 
 thing that does not belong to him. 
 
 This is an inftance of moderation in the favages towards 
 their tyrants, which is univerfally attefted, and at the fame 
 time praifed and admired by the colonifts themfelves ; 
 which, however, I cannot eafily reconcile with what I have 
 learned of the human heart. Is it in confequence of their 
 fearing to meet with harder ufage in cafe they fliould be 
 retaken ? Thus far, however, is certain, that none of this 
 fpecies of Hottentots are much given to violence or revenge. 
 Free from many wants and defires, that torment the retl 
 of mankind, they are little, if at all, addidled to thieving, 
 if we except brandy, vi6luals, and tobacco. It is not im- 
 probable likewife, that the advantages accruing from a theft 
 may be overlooked by them, when their thoughts are taken 
 up with regaining their liberty, the greateft of all treafures. 
 It is neceffary to obferve here, that fome of the Hottentots 
 or BoJJjtes-men^ who are thus forced into the fervice of 
 the colonics, live in fmall focieties peaceably and quietly, 
 . in defert tra6ts, where the colonifts cannot eafily come at 
 them, and are fometimes in the pofTeflion of a fev/ cows. 
 Thefe people probably originate from Bojloies-men who have 
 run away from the colonifts fervice. 
 
 I muft confefs, that the Hottentots, who are in fome 
 hufbandmen's fervice, are treated in the gentleft manner, 
 and, perhaps, even without ever having a harfh word given 
 them, live very well with regard to provifions, are well 
 clad relatively to their condition in life, and are very com- 
 fortably
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 205 
 
 fortably lodged, in comparifon of what others are, in their ^^7^-^ 
 own ftraw cottages. The chief of their bulinefs, perhaps, ^^^r^ 
 coniifls in tending a herd of cattle or flock of flieep during 
 the heat of the day, when they have an opportunity of 
 getting into a gentle ftate of intoxication by fmoking to- 
 bacco; a flate which excites in them fenfations of as agree- 
 able a nature, as the frenzy produced by fpirituous liquors 
 and opium feems to afford to many others, who are never 
 at eafe but when they can procure themfelves this delicious 
 pleafure. And yet, though they may thus agreeably pafs 
 away the otherwife tedious hours of their lives in fmoking 
 and fleep, they neverthelefs generally run away. The co- 
 loniils wonder at this, as a procedure entirely devoid of 
 reafon ; without perceiving that in fo doing, they fuppofe 
 the Hottentots not endued with a defire, which has its im- 
 mediate foundation in nature, and v/hich is common to the 
 human race, and even to mofl brute animals, viz. an earneft 
 longing after their birth-place, and families, and especially 
 after their liberty. 
 
 The flave bufinefs, that violent outrage to the natural 
 rights of mankind, always in itfelf a crime, and which leads 
 to all manner of mifdemeanours and wickednefs, is ex- 
 ercifed by the colonifts with a cruelty towards the nation 
 of Boft)ies-men^ which merits the abhorrence of every one; 
 though I have been told, that they pique themfelves upon it : 
 and not only is the capture of the Hottentots confidered by 
 them merely as a party of pleafure, but in cold blood they 
 deftroy the bands which nature has knit between hufbands 
 and their wives and children. Not content, for inftance, 
 with having torn an unhappy woman from the embraces of 
 
 her
 
 206 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '775- her hufband's, her only prote6lion and comfort, they endea- 
 
 \^^^r\J vour all they can, and that chiefly at night, to deprive her 
 
 likewife of her infants ; for it has been obferved, that the 
 
 mothers can feldom perfuade themfelves to flee from their 
 
 tender offspring. 
 
 The amiable tendernefs of the mother, which, perhaps, 
 glows with a more lively flame in the breail of this poor 
 heathen, than in thofe of her Chriftian tyrants, is the very 
 circumlf ance laid hold on by their perfecutors, in order to 
 rivet the chains of this wretched female fo much the fafter. 
 There are fome m^others, however, that fet themfelves free, 
 when they have loft all hopes of faving their children. After 
 having made their efcape, they fometimes keep fecretly 
 about the neighbourhood, in hopes of finding fome oppor- 
 tunity of recovering their infants again : for oh ! what 
 grief to a mother, bred and born to tafte the fweets of 
 liberty, and now lately opprefled by the heavy chains of 
 bondage, to refledl, that her offspring's life is only pre- 
 ferved, in order that it may be rendered miferable by an 
 intolerable flavery. But, unhappy mothers ! whilft involv- 
 ed in thefe painful reflections, they wander up and down, 
 lefs in fear of the wild beafts than of the colonifts, they, 
 perhaps, in the end, fall a prey to fome of thefe fierce ani- 
 mals, or not unfrequently perifli with hunger : for as foon 
 as they have eloped, men are fet to lie in ambufli for them 
 at fach places by the rivers fides, as it is fuppofed they 
 muft take in their way, and by this means they are often 
 retaken. And, though they fliould reach their own homes 
 in fafety, they may even then very poflibly happen to be 
 whipj^ed up by fome peafant and carried into flavery. 
 
 3 With-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 207 
 
 Without doubt, the Bofliies-men have been a Ion? while '775- 
 
 - ^ Auguft. 
 
 in a lavage fcate, and many of them are now brought w'vnJ 
 into a flill more miferable fituation, fince the Chrif- 
 tians have invaded their country, and purfue them with 
 chains and fetters into their deferts. hi fo favage a ftate, 
 they probably neither have, nor ever had, many manners 
 or cuftoms different from thofe few I have already men- 
 tioned, or may defcribe in the courfe of this work. 
 
 With refpedl to religion and language, the BoJhies-me?i 
 agree in a great meafure with the more civilized part of 
 their nation, or the Hottentots properly fo called. Thefe 
 are not fenfible of the exiflence of any being, who is the 
 origin and ruler of all things ; for, on being queflioned, 
 they fay they know nothing of the matter. 
 
 Some Hottentots, who fpoke the Dutch language readily, 
 and with whom, both in company and feparately, I con- 
 verfed on this fubjedl, always anfwered me to this effe6t ; 
 JFe are poor Jiupid creatures, and have never heard, neither 
 are we able to underjiand, any thmg of the matter. And,, 
 in fa6t, they foon let me perceive, that they are weary with 
 puzzling their brains with topics of this kind. Several 
 Dutch families, that had fpoken the Hottentot language 
 from their infancy, as well as their own, have given me 
 to underftand, that they had found the fame degree of ig- 
 norance in the Bofliies-men ; yet that, as both Bofliies- 
 men and Hottentots have the firmeft belief in the powei's 
 of magic, they feem confequently by this to acknowledge 
 fome evil being of great might and power : but that they 
 by no means on this account wordiip him, or indeed any 
 other, although they feem to attribute to him all the evil. 
 
 that
 
 2o8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 .^77?- that happens ; amons; which they reckon, without excep- 
 C^v^w^ tion, all rain, cold and thunder. Many of the colonifts 
 have likewife afliu'ed me, that their Bojloies-jne?! of either 
 fex, ufed in ftormy weather to abufe the thunder with the 
 words, fguzeri and fgaunazi^ and other reproachful ex- 
 preffions; and at the fame time, in a furious manner, with 
 their flioes or any thing elfe that was at hand, threaten 
 and bid defiance to the flaflies of lightning and peals of 
 thunder that flafhed and rolled over their heads. It would 
 be in vain to try to make them fenlible, that the vegeta- 
 ble creation, whence they, as well as the brute animals, 
 were nourilhed, would without rain wither and be entire- 
 ly dried up : even the Hottentot I afterwards took into my 
 fervice at Zwellendam, perfifled, in fpite of all my objec- 
 tions, obftinately in the opinion, that notwithflanding this 
 confideration, rain was always an evil, and that it would be 
 a happy circumftance were it never to rain. A maxim of 
 this kind from a race of men, in other refpe6ls really en- 
 dued with fome degree of fenfe, and frequently with no 
 fmall fhare of penetration and cunning, ought, me- 
 thinks, to be confidered as an indelible religious or fuper- 
 flitiovis notion entertained by them from their infancy, ra- 
 ther than as an idea taken up on due deliberation and confe- 
 quent convicftion. At the fame time, though they did not 
 appear to be of a very chilly nature, they never fliewed 
 the leaft figns of being difpleafed with the hotteft days of 
 fummer. 
 
 The more fimple of every race of Hottentots, or the 
 .common run of them, from which number very few de- 
 :fexve to be excepted, have fo firm a confidence in fuch 
 
 cheats
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 209 
 
 cheats of either fex, as fet up for magicians and conjurers, ^^^ 
 that they even fometimes folicit thefe people to put a Hop ^^-^ 
 to the thunder and rain. With a view of obtaining con- 
 fideration, belides being well paid, thefe pretended wizards 
 are ready to undertake every thing : but if, for inflance, 
 it fliould happen to continue to thunder or rain longer than 
 they expedled, and cOnfequently have promifed, they plead 
 in their excufe, that another conjurer, who either has more 
 ikill, or is better paid than themfelves, throws obilacles 
 in their Avay by a kind of counter-magic. Many of thefe 
 fimple creatures believe, that almoft all diforders are brought 
 on by means of magic, and are only to be cured by the 
 fame means. The wizards, on their parts, are not back- 
 ward in cherifliing this idea ; but take care, notwithftand- 
 ing, in fuch cafes to apply both external and internal reme- 
 dies. Among the external may be reckoned, their fome- 
 times ordering their patient to lay on his face, when they 
 fet themfelves on his back, and pinch and cuff him about, 
 and beat him all over, till at length they fliev/ him a bone, 
 larger or fmaller juft as it happens, which they affert had 
 been conjured into him ; but which they, by their great 
 fkill and dexterity, have extracted, either from his nofe, 
 ears, or fome other part of his body. It frequently hap- 
 pens, that the patient is relieved by an operation of this 
 kind; and if he is not, he undergoes feveral of them. 
 And then if he dies, his friends only lament, that he was 
 bewitched beyond the power of any one to ailift him. In 
 all likelihood, the conjurer on thefe occafions, by a dexter- 
 ous Height of hand, deceives both the credulous patient and 
 thofe about him. A boor informed me, that v/hen he was 
 Vol. I. E e a child.
 
 2IO A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 '"75- a child, and amons; other play-thines had the leQ;-bone of an 
 
 Augult. cj i o o 
 
 w'-Yx^ OX, which he iifed as a cart, it appeared to him to his 
 great aftonifhment, that it was fucked out of a ilck per- 
 fon's back by one of thefe wizards ; and, as far as he could 
 truft to his memory, he recoUedted that the patient got 
 quite well after this operation. A wizard that was taken 
 by a party of Hottentots to a lion-hunt, in order to exer- 
 cife his magic power upon the lion, was foon torn in pieces 
 by the animal. Several boors took occafion from this in- 
 cident to reproach the Hottentots with their credulous par- 
 tiality towards thefe fellows ; but they ftill perfifbed in their 
 fentiments, being rather inclined to think, that fome more 
 powerful magician, a foe to the deceafed, had brought this 
 misfortune upon him. So that a conjurer among thefe 
 people lays the more limple of them under a kind of con- 
 tribution by his fuperior cunning, jutt as ours do our coun- 
 try folk ; but, on the other hand, more frequently runs 
 the rifque of being fufpe6ted of occaiioning the mifchief 
 that happens. 
 
 A Gaffre prince chanced in his old age to have fore eyes, 
 and could get no cure for them. He therefore ordered all 
 thofe that were fkilled in magic to be put to death, where- 
 ever they were found ; no doubt, on the fame principle as 
 Herod did the children in Bethlehem, thinking that in the 
 number he might happen to hit on the man w^ho had be- 
 witched him. This prince is faid to have been living but 
 a few years ago ; his name was Pa loo, which by moil of 
 the colonifls was converted into Fbaraoh, Of the princes 
 w^ho reigned over the different nations of CafFres, while I 
 was in Africa, the moft powerful was faid to be Amahote or 
 
 T'amus,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. an 
 
 Tamus, A chief among the Hottentots, called Captain ^»775j^ 
 RuYTER, of whom I fhall have occafion to fpeak by and V^w> 
 by, is alfo reported to have perfeciited and put to death 
 fome forcerers, whom he fiifpected of having brought a 
 difeafe on him by witchcraft. 
 
 Though the Hottentots are fo fuperflitious, yet they are 
 not, as far as I know, in the leaft afraid of being in the 
 dark. They feem, however, to have fome idea of fpirits, 
 and a belief in a future ftate, as they accofl their friends 
 as foon as they are dead with reproaches for leaving them 
 fo foon; at the fame time, admonifliing them henceforth 
 to demean themfelves properly ; by vv^hich they mean, that 
 their deceafed friends fliould not come back again and 
 haunt them, nor allow themfelves to be made ufe of by 
 wizards, to bring any mifchief on thofe that furvive them. 
 
 There is a genus of infecSls (the mantis^) called by the 
 colonifts the Hottentofs god", but fo far are they from wor- 
 fliipping thefe infecSts, that they have more than once 
 catched fome of them, and given them to me to Hick 
 needles through them, by way of preferving them, as I 
 did with other infecSls. There is, however, a diminu- 
 tive fpecies of this genus of infers, which fome think it 
 would be a crime, as well as very dangerous, to do any 
 harm to ; but this w* e have no more reafon to look upon 
 as a kind of religious worfliip, than we have to confider in 
 the fame light, a certain fuperflitious notion prevalent 
 among many of the more fimple people in our own coun- 
 try, who imagine, that three fins will be forgiven them, 
 if they fet a cock-chafer on its feet that has happened to 
 have fallen upon its back. 
 
 E e 2 The
 
 212 A VOYAGE TO th:e 
 
 '77?- The moon, aceordin<7 to Kolbe, receives a kind of ado- 
 
 ^•vsJ ration from the Hottentots. But the fa6l is, that they 
 merely take the opportunity of her beams, and at the 
 fame time of the coolnefs of the night, to amufe themfelves 
 with dancing ; and confequently, have no more thoughts 
 of worfliipping her than the chriflian colonifts, who are 
 fcen at the fame time ftrolling in great numbers about the 
 Itreets, and parading on the ftone fleps with which their 
 houfes are ufually encircled. 
 
 That the artful conjurers themfelves are moil of them 
 without either fuperftition or religion of any kind, is high- 
 ly probable. There are feemingly here likewife many 
 other free-thinkers, among whom I cannot help reckon- 
 ing a Hottentot from Bnffeljagts-rivier<) whom I fome time 
 after this period took into my fervice as my ox-leader. He 
 informed me, that a wizard came to his craal feveral dif- 
 ferent evenings, and fetting himfelf down in one of their 
 huts, told them, by way of divination, that the wolf was 
 doing them a great deal of mifchief in their fheep-folds 
 (at the fame time mentioning the particulars,) and would 
 do them flill more, if they did not haften to the relief of 
 their flocks. The people of the craal accordingly fallied 
 forth, and found it was as the foothfayer had told them ; 
 in confequence of which, they conceived the higheft de- 
 gree of refpecSl for him, and rewarded him handfomely 
 into the bargain. Some time after, however, they difco- 
 vered, that their lofs was not occafioned by the wolves, 
 but by fome neighbouring Hottentots, whom they, not 
 v/ithout reafon, fuppofed to have been in the plot with the 
 foothfayer. What other general remarks I have to malce 
 
 on
 
 C A P E o F G O O D H O PE. 213 
 
 on the fubjedl of the Hottentots and BoJJjies-men^ I fliall H^l'^ 
 defer at prefent, and return to the regular courfe of my ^•vv-^ 
 journal. 
 
 On the 30th of Auguft at 'Tiger-boek^ where I before 
 obferved we were juft arrived, I was informed, that the 
 doctrines of chriftianty had been formerly preached there 
 to the Hottentots, and received by them with great avidity 
 and zeal. It was ftill, as I was told, within the memory 
 of feveral of the inhabitants, that one of the converts, an 
 old female Hottentot, was living, and ufed to perform her 
 devotions every morning on her bare knees, by the lidc 
 of a fpring fituated near this fpot. It was faid, flie had 
 a German Bible, which flie often read and treated with 
 the o-reatefl veneration; and that her behaviour throup-h- 
 out life was- decent and quiet. My informers added, that 
 the miffionary who had converted her, had been baniflied 
 out of the country, for having illegally made himfelf a 
 chief among the Hottentots in thefe parts, in order to en- 
 rich himfelf by their labour, and the prefents they made 
 him of cattle. It was fuppofed, that he was fo far guilty 
 of what was aliedged againft him, inafmuch as it both 
 was then and is now prohibited, under divers penalties, 
 for any one to buy, or otherwife acquire the poflcffion of 
 any cattle belonging to the Hottentots. That this mif- 
 fionarv's name was George Smid, and that he was a Mo- 
 ravian or Herrnhuter^ I found on my return home in the 
 Biidingijche Samhmg einiger i?t die Kirchen-Hifiorle^ ^c, 
 (printed at Leiplic, 1742) wherein, art. 7. from page 78 
 to 126, there is fome account of this affair, under the 
 
 title
 
 ai4 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »775- title of Juri^ftes Biarium des Bruden Georg Smid^ zur probt 
 W^-^' dcs IVandeh diefes knechts des Herrn unter den Hottentotten *. 
 
 This extra6t of the journal or letter ahove-mentioned, is 
 carried from November 15th, 1739? to November i8th, 
 1740 ; and at that time dated from Serjeant-rivkr^ a fmall 
 branch of the rivier Zonder^end, or the river near which 
 lived the converted Hottentot woman. In this letter we 
 are informed, that the number of cc^n verts was thirty- 
 two, and that the new chriftians did not unfreqiiently 
 neeledl both their work and their hours of devotion in or- 
 der to amnfe themfelves in a garden, which, in all proba- 
 l)ility was common. 
 
 At page 683 of this colleclion, there is inferted another 
 letter from this fame Smid, dated the i5th of May, 1742 ; 
 from which we learn, that he had by baptifm augmented 
 the congregation with five more fiflers in Chrifl; as like- 
 wife, that he had lived there as miflionary five years, and 
 intended to ftay there four years longer: fo that there is 
 no doubt, but that the Hottentots might be eafily convert- 
 ed to the chrillian faith : but it is much to be doubted, 
 whether any body wall ever trouble themfelves with the 
 converfion of thefe plain honeft people, unlefs it fhould 
 appear to hav« more connexion than it feems to have 
 at prefent with political advantages. 
 
 Soon after we arrived at this farm, two Hottentot girls, 
 from fourteen to feventeen years of age, made their ap- 
 pearance, well befmeared, and, in their fafhion, very fmart- 
 
 * The laft Diary of brother George Smid, being a teftimony of the carriage 
 ih^d condu<^ of this fervant of the Lord among the Hottentots, 
 
 1?
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOP E. 
 
 215 
 
 ly drefled. Without any great degree of vanity we could '/75- 
 plainly perceive, that the vifit was made on our account ; v^/'vn^ 
 out of gratitude, therefore,, as well as from a natural re- 
 gard for the fair fex, we addrefled thefe (I am in doubt 
 whether to call them beautiful or frightful) young ladies 
 with all the handfome fpeeches we thought would be moft 
 acceptable in fuch circumftances. At their requeft we 
 likewife prefented them with a fine piece of roll-tobacco, 
 of which they cut off a little, filled their pipes with it^ 
 and fmoked in a very elegant fiyle. Our hoft took that 
 opportunity to let us know, that we Ihould pleafe them, 
 much better with a little brandy than with all our com- 
 pliments ; we therefore brought a couple of glafiTes of it 
 for each of them, and they ffcuck pretty clofe to it, ap- 
 plying to it with great affiduity while they were fmoking 
 their pipes. We likew*ife had the pleafure foon of feeing 
 them grow a little lively, without venturing to drink a 
 drop more, or allowing the leait freedom. At length they 
 took their leave of us in a very difcreet manner, and I. 
 was very much pleafed to fee fo much modefly and de- 
 cency in girls belonging to fo uncivilized a nation. But 
 when they got out of doors, thefe mad-caps had the bold- 
 nefs to defy us to run after them and. catch them. We 
 foon gave over the chafe, but as often as we turned back 
 they came after us, and defied us again. At length the 
 elder of them v/hile flie was running, not only fell downj 
 but even feemed to wait for us in that pofition. So unexpedl- 
 ed a circumftance gave us no fmall concern, as it made us 
 begin to fufpedl the girl's virtue, till flie drew a large 
 knife, and threatened to plunge it into our hearts, if we 
 
 dared
 
 2i6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^11^' dared to approach any nearer. As the difference of cir- 
 
 Auguil. . • n -u 
 
 \^^^r\j ciimftances and opportiinites has a great mnuence on the 
 nature of things, and particularly with refpe6l to the fair 
 fex, I thought it would be proper in this place to relate 
 the whole affair juft as it happened, without drawing any 
 general conclufion from it. I am neverthelefs convinced, 
 that the Hottentots are more cold and moderate in their 
 delires of a certain nature than many other nations; quali- 
 ties which are the natural confequence of the dull, inac- 
 tive, and I had almofl faid, entirely liftlefs difpofition, which 
 is the leading charadleriflic of their minds; qualities 
 which likewife are neceffarily produced by the debilitating 
 diet they ufe, and their extreme ina6livity and lloth ; 
 wdiich carried to a certain point, increafe, but in extremes 
 deaden and benumb both the phyfical and moral fenfa- 
 tions. 
 
 On the siftj we here met with a middle-aged man, a 
 colonift, who offered to drive my waggon for fix rixdol- 
 lars per month; but altered his mind as foon as we had 
 told him, that he mufl be content to undergo the fame 
 inconveniencies and hazards as Mr. Immelman and I were, 
 at all events, prepared to fubje6l ourfelves to. The next 
 day, therefore, we took our leave of this place, as much 
 to feek as when we firfl arrived there. In our road wx 
 found a little Hottentofs craal^ which, if I remember right, 
 confifted of five huts, run up in the manner I have de- 
 fcribed above ; but covered with fuch miferable old mats, 
 that the owners feemed to be much more afraid of the 
 trouble, trifling as that would have been, of making new, 
 than of the inconveniencies attending the droppings of the 
 a eaves
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 217 
 
 eaves in wet weather. The inhabitants of this craal con- ^^775- 
 
 Auguft. 
 
 fifted of about twenty people. They had run up a very V^^r^ 
 wretched inclofure for their flieep and cattle, which were 
 then at grafs, and feemed to be very numerous. As I 
 wilhed to try if I could not hire a Hottentot or two into 
 our fervice, the oldeil man in the craal prefented his fon 
 to me, a youth of nineteen or twenty years of age, fay- 
 ing, that he could be very well fpared in the craal, in cafe 
 I could perfuade him to follow me. Upon this I crept 
 into the young man's hut, and found him lying under his 
 cloak, in the way I have defcribed above when fpeaking 
 of his countrymen in general, with his knees drawn up 
 to his nofe, almoft like a foetus in utero, I fpent a great 
 deal of time to no purpofe, in reprefenting to him the 
 great advantages he would gain by going with us ; fuch as 
 a cow with calf, knives, brafs tinder-boxes, glafs beads, 
 and other tempting articles ; in Ihort, prefents to an un- 
 common value, all which I offered him as a premium for 
 half a year's fervice; but as I conlidered it equally bafe 
 to deceive a poor Hottentot as any other perfon, I did not 
 dilTemble to him, that our expedition would be of fome 
 duration : though, on the other hand, as the Hottentot 
 nation is not abfolutely infenlible to the pleafures of the 
 chace any more than to the calls of ambition, I at the 
 fame time reprefented to him, that an expedition of this 
 fort would of itfelf afford him no fmall degree of pleafure, 
 and on his return would give him fome confequence in 
 the eyes of his companions ; but all was in vain. With 
 as little fuccefs did I endeavour to fet before him the plea- 
 fure he would have in fmoking a better fort of tobacco, a 
 Vol. I. F f quantity
 
 ai8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^ni' quantity of which I had taken with me, and intended to 
 V.,^^-0 bellow it very plentifully on any one that fhould accom- 
 pany me in my journey. I likewife put him in mind, 
 that he would not find fo collly an article as tobacco, nor 
 even victuals abound greatly, if he ftaid at home. 
 
 Notwithftanding all this, I found him abfolutely im- 
 moveable in foul as well as in body ; excepting, indeed, that 
 with regard to the latter, he now and then threw out a 
 whifF of tobacco from the left fide of his chops ; and that 
 two or three times, on my repeatedly requefting him to 
 let me know his mind on the fubjedl, he at length, though 
 not without fome difficulty, prevailed on himfelf to open 
 his mouth, and anfwer me with a fhort but decifive. No ! 
 The extreme indolence of the lad, his very cavalier recep- 
 tion of me, the clouds of fmoke that filled his cabin and 
 made my eyes fmart mofl horribly, together with the 
 fwarms of fleas I obferved in it, excited in me juft at that 
 time the greatefl indignation, as well as the utmoft con- 
 tempt for the Hottentot nation : though, when I after- 
 wards came to confider the matter more impartially, as 
 the. lad, from his habits as well as nature, could very eafily 
 make fliift with a moderate quantity of food, and with 
 this could and actually did enjoy what to him was a real 
 fubltantial pleafure, viz. his eafe and tobacco, I could not well 
 fuppofe that my offer would have any weight with him. 
 
 At lafl, however, I made him another propofal of a 
 different nature, which was, that he, for a very moderate 
 premium, fliould, for a few days only, help us to lead our 
 oxen to Zzvellendam^ where I was in hopes of getting 
 fomebody in his room. To this he anfwered as quick as 
 
 thought.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 219 
 
 thought, Ja^ Baas^ (T^j", Majler,) got up in an inftant, ^^775-^ 
 and had nothing more to do than to hang his tobacco- v^^^-^^w' 
 pouch on his arm, in order to be quite ready for his 
 journey. After this, he went flraight to my waggon, and 
 with all the eafe and alacrity imaginable, did every thing 
 that was requifite to it ; fo that he no longer appeared to be 
 the fame lazy fellow, with whom. I had juft before been 
 bargaining. 
 
 The principal reafon of this difpoHtion that prevails 
 with moft Hottentots is, perhaps, that their wants are ex- 
 tremely few ; and confequently, being without care or em- 
 ployment of any kind, they are ina6live and idle. From 
 this caufe again, a famine or general want of the necef- 
 faries of hfe arifing, will naturally Itimulate their ufually 
 half-ilarved bodies into a6livity and vigorous motion, at leaft, 
 till their more preffing wants are relieved. On the other hand^ 
 fuch children of Hottentots, or Bofhies-men, as from their 
 tender years have been in the fervice of the colonifts, and 
 have been ufed to work, do not yield the palm of briflc- 
 nefs and agility to any other nation whatever. It appears 
 to me, therefore, that one cannot accufe any natural dif- 
 pofition of theirs, as being a hindrance to their rifing from 
 their prefent very barbarous and unpoliflied ftate to a mucli 
 higher degree of civilization. 
 
 Though the father of the Hottentot I had juft hired did 
 not take the leaft part in his fon's refolve, yet at their 
 parting he Ihowed, that he pofTefled the affedlions of a 
 father. In fa6t, they feemed to take a tender farewel of each 
 other; on which occafton, the old man repeatedly impor- 
 tuned us in the moft friendly mamier to ufe his fon kindly. 
 
 F f 2 There
 
 220 ^ AVOYAGEto the 
 
 »775- There blew from the fea, which was at that time but a 
 
 Auguft. 
 
 ^^yy-Kj fmall diil:ance from us, a cold fouth-eaft wind, and my 
 companion was feized with his old troublefome cough and 
 fpitting of blood, which continued till we arrived at night 
 at a farm called Groote Vlakte (the Great Plain.) But, as 
 we had no provifions with us, and the farm was inhabited 
 merely by flaves, who had nothing but cold water and a 
 little coarfe and doughy bread to entertain us with ; and as 
 befides the fpitting of blood was fome what relieved by fome 
 faltpetre which I had taken with me, as well as by the faft 
 my companion had been obliged to keep, though fore 
 againft his will, he did not chufe to flay here longer than 
 the following noon, but plucked up courage fuflicient ta 
 continue his route on horfeback as before. In the mean 
 time we entered into chat with the principal Have, who 
 informed us, that he had been feveral times bought and 
 fold : and that this laft time, notwithftanding his age, 
 which was not lefs than fifty years, yet in confideration of 
 his well-known fidelity, and of the dependence that might 
 be placed in him, he had been bought in at an audtion for 
 a bailiff by a niggardly farmer, who, on that account, had 
 thought it worth his while to purchafe him at fb high a 
 price as a hundred and ten rixdollars. Upon which, the 
 poor fellow obferved, that he had not fared better with his 
 fmgular fidelity, than other flaves who were remarkable 
 for their great flrength of body ; fince he had found his 
 burthen of care and refponfibility increafed upon him in 
 the fame degree, as thefe latter experienced the augmenta- 
 tion of their loads. Indeed, the lot and reward of both were 
 like thofe of old worn-out horfes, viz. to be negle6led and 
 
 ftai'ved
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 221 
 
 Itarved in their old age, in cafe they did not before that ^epIJIher, 
 period fmk into the grave under the preffure of their ^*^v^^ 
 bondage. I then informed him, that flavery was not tole- 
 rated in my country ; and it feemed to give him great plea- 
 fure in the midft of his misfortunes to think, that in fome 
 part of the world, however, the natural rights of mankind 
 were held more facred thanthey were in thofe colonies. 
 
 The ftate of the weather for the month of Auguft was 
 as follows. The ift and 2d days cloudy, on the 7 th and 
 8th violent rains and north-eafterly winds. On the 9th 
 mizzling rain. On the 21 ft, 23d, and 29th it rained with 
 the wind at fouth-eafl. All the other days of this month 
 were fair with fun-fliine. 
 
 I had, as I mentioned before, loft in my way to the bath 
 the fmall thermometer, according to the fcale of which the 
 degrees have been hitherto given. So that fubfequent to this 
 period it was from another thermometer of Fahrenheit's, 
 procured for me by Mr. Immelman from the Cape, that 
 my obfervations were made, which I fliall continue to give 
 in the fame manner as I began at page 112. On the 2 2d 
 and 23d the thermometer was at 56 — 24th therm. 53^ 
 29th therm. 56 — 30th therm. 52 — 3ifl therm. 48. This 
 month feemed to correfpond nearefl with the month of May 
 in our northern climates. 
 
 On the I ft of September we pafTed by two farms in 
 Heffaquas K/oof, or vale, through which our road lay. As 
 Kolbe makes mention of a nation of Hottentots by the name 
 of HeJaquaSy they probably dwelt formerly in this vale. 
 From hence the road took us to the Breede-rhiery (as it is 
 called) where there was a ferry-boat, in which we were 
 
 put
 
 ^2-t A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775- put over with our faddle-liorfes and waggon, but the oxen 
 
 September. , ^ . ^ 
 
 C^-'yj were made to iwim acrols. 
 
 Notwithflanding that the river was at this time very 
 wide and deep, yet during part of the fummer its w^aters 
 are faid to fall fo prodigioufly, that one may both ride and 
 drive over it with eafe. Diredlly on the other lide of this 
 river there was a farm, where we took up our night's 
 lodging. 
 
 On the 2d we continued our journey till we came to 
 Zvjellendam. This place, w^hich I have marked in the map 
 with the letters O V G interwoven with each other, or the 
 Dutch company's mark, is the relidence of a landroji^ as 
 he is called, who is the governor of the w^hole eaftern 
 tra6l of the African colonies. Here was a large handfome 
 edifice built for him, and two other lefler ones for two of 
 his afliflants or chief officers. 
 
 The droji gave us a good reception, and a bed at night. 
 He likewdfe procured us two Hottentots from a neighbour- 
 ing craal, to aflift us in our journey. So that my two firft 
 were difmilied our fervice according to our previous agree- 
 ment ; though the youth, who had made fuch a great dif- 
 ficulty of accompanying me, was now very loth to part 
 with me. The landroji perceiving that I had got but in- 
 different oxen in my waggon, offered me a whole team of 
 much better : but, though I was told that I might have 
 them on credit, I would not venture to deal any more in 
 oxen, efpecially as my former bargain had turned out fo 
 bad. Befides, being but a ftranger, I was more afraid of 
 a ufurer than of any of the wild beafts in Africa ; neither 
 did I think that it would now anfwer to the expence, as 
 
 this
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOP E, 123; 
 
 this year had already fet in as if it would be the dflefl in e ^^^^i: 
 
 ■' ■' oeptember. 
 
 the memory of man. Otherwife, had I been able to afford V^^-w-^ 
 another team of oxen, I flioiild doubtlefs have made a 
 much longer journey, as well as more advantageous for 
 natural hiftory. 
 
 The people at this place pretended to have obferved, 
 that the wind, when it blew from the fouth-eafl at the 
 Cape, was always northerly with them; and that, when 
 it had ceafed raining at the Cape, they had ftill flight 
 Ihowers at Zwellendam. They likewife informed me, that 
 a very fatal diftemper prevailed there every winter among 
 the horfes, but that it never made its appearance at Slangen- 
 rivier and Potteberg^ although both thefe places lie not far 
 from Zwellendam, as may be feen in my map. Itwasfuppofed, 
 that the falt-water which the horfes were obliged to drink 
 at both thefe places, was what prefer ved them. It is pro- 
 bable, however, that the fea-winds purify the air in thofe 
 parts ; and, on the contrary, that the northerly wind which 
 comes to Zwellendam from the interior part of the country, 
 brings with it vapours very noxious to the health of the 
 horfes ; efpecially as it was obferved, that fuch horfes as 
 were kept up in the flable, were hardly ever feized with 
 the diftemper. The nature of the diforder was fuch, that 
 ahorfe would die almoft inftantaneoufly ; fometimes with- 
 out any vifible fymptom preceding it, and fometimes after 
 a tumor had appeared on the cheft or groin. 
 
 It was here that I faw for the firft time in my life one 
 
 of thofe animals called quaggas by the Hottentots and co- 
 
 lonifts. It is a fpecies of wild horfe, very like the zebra ; 
 
 the difference confifting in this, that the quagga has fliorter 
 
 6 ears.
 
 *£24 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- ears, and that it has no flripes on its fore legs, loins, or 
 
 September. . 
 
 Lyy^Kj any of its hind parts. 
 
 This partial refemblance has been the occalion of Mr. 
 Edwards's delineating the quagga with the title of the 
 female zebra. But in that very work both the quaggas 
 and zebras are fpecies totally different the one from the other, 
 keeping in very different tra6ts of country, and thofe fre- 
 quently very diflant from each other. The females of each 
 fpecies are marked like their refpedive males, excepting 
 that the colour is fomewhat more lively and definite in 
 thefe latter. 
 
 That the zebras difcover fome trifling variations from 
 each other with refped: to their ftreaks, particularly down 
 the legs, may be perceived by comparing the different 
 Ikins of this animal; which, as I have remarked above, 
 are fold by the furriers under the denomination of fea- 
 horfe fkins. I have never had an opportunity of com- 
 paring together the fkins of quaggas, but have very 
 little doubt that there is likewife fome trifling difference be- 
 tween them. 
 
 A full grown foetus of a quagga, which I brought with 
 me from the Cape, and keep fluffed with fir aw in the ca- 
 binet of natural hiflory belonging to the Royal Academy 
 of Sciences, feems to have livelier colours than I have ob- 
 ferved in the adult animal. The length of this foetus, 
 from the ears to the tail is thirty-one inches, and its height 
 about the loins twenty-two inches. The quagga I faw 
 here, having been caught when it was very young, was 
 become fo tame, that it came to us to be carefTed. It was 
 faid never to be frightened by the hyaena, but, on the 
 
 contrary,
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E, 225 
 
 contrary, that it would purfue this fierce animal, when- s^^^^^ber 
 ever this latter made its appearance in thofe parts ; fb that ^^yy^^ 
 it was a moft certain guard for the horfes, with which it 
 was turned out to grafs at night. 
 
 That thefe quaggas might be broken in for the faddla 
 or harnefs, I have not the leafl doubt ; as jufl before my 
 departure for Europe, I faw one driven through the ftreets 
 in a team with five horfes : but with the zebra nobody 
 has yet made any fair trial in this particular. I was told, 
 indeed, that a wealthy burgher near the Cape, brought up 
 and tamed fome of them with this view ; and likewife, that 
 once he was abfurd enough to take it into his head to 
 harnefs them all to his chaife, though they were not in 
 the leafl accuflomed either to the harnefs or yoke. The 
 confequence was, that they diredlly ran back into the fla- 
 ble with the carriage and their mafler in it with fuch pro- 
 digious fury, as to deprive him and every one elfe of all 
 defire to make any farther tiials of this kind. There can 
 be no doubt, however, but that quaggas or zebras, pro- 
 perly tamed and broke in, would, in many refpedls, be of 
 greater fervice to the colonifts than horfes : as, in the firft 
 place, they are more eafily procured here ; and next, be- 
 ing ufed to the harfh dry paflure, which chiefly abounds 
 in Africa, they feem to be intended by nature for this 
 country ; while, on the other hand, horfes are univerfally 
 very nice in their food. I beheve I have already remark- 
 ed, that both horfes and oxen in this country are in gene- 
 ral weaker than ours ; of which the dry paflures abounding 
 in it, were in all probability the principal caufe. The quagga 
 that I faw here at this time, was in fuch good condition, and 
 
 Vo L. I. G g fo
 
 226 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^775- fo plump about the back and loins, as, I believe, in that 
 
 September. ^ ^ nii i/^ 
 
 ^•v^ point, not to be equalled by any horle \ and though both 
 quaggas and zebras have fmall feet, yet at the fame time 
 theii' hoofs are hard, and, perhaps, like afTes, they are 
 more fure-footed than horfes. I cannot deny, that with 
 good horfes the people here are ufed to hunt down the 
 zebras with eafe : but who knows, whether both zebras 
 and quaggas would not become quicker in their paces by 
 frequent riding and exercife. Had the colonifts tamed 
 them and ufed them inftead of horfes, in all probability 
 they would have been in no danger of lofing them, either 
 by the wolves or the epidemic diforder, to which the horfes 
 here are fubje^l* 
 
 Here was a vineyard planted for the ufe of the family, 
 and it was the firfb I had i^^n. fince I left the bath. The 
 , wine produced by it did not come up to that at the Cape ; 
 which chiefly proceeded from the lituation of the vineyard^ 
 and perhaps, likewife, in fome meafure, from its not be- 
 ing properly looked after. 
 
 '" On the 3d we continued our journey till we came to 
 Riet Valley, This was the laft farm to the eaftward be- 
 longing to government, and was fituated at a fhort diftance 
 only from Zvjelkndam. A corporal, as he is ftyled, had 
 the infpe6lion of this farm, and likewife fuperintended 
 divers wood-cutters who worked in the neighbouring wood 
 (called Groot Vaders Bofcb) on the company's account. The 
 people that had the care of the farm at Riet Valley were 
 opulent and well-bred, and in a moft hofpitable manner 
 abfolutely obliged us to pafs a couple of days with them ; 
 at the fame time endeavouring to render themfelves 
 
 both
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 227 
 
 both agreeable and ufefui to us by the mformation they ^ ^77S' 
 
 ^ ^ •> September. 
 
 gave us, as well as by the afiiftance they afforded us in Ov>J 
 our refearches; fo much, indeed, that they even taught 
 us, and made us praclife fpeaking the Hottentot language. 
 
 This is certainly, Vvith reipe6t to the pronunciation, the 
 moft difficult and fingular language in the univerfe. Al~ 
 moft every word is pronounced with a fmack or clacking 
 of the tongue againft the roof of the mouth. Words of 
 many fyllables are accompanied with two clacks ; but what 
 cannot but render this language Itill more difficult for 
 Grangers, is, that thefe clacks are faid to be performed, ac- 
 cording to different circumftances, in three different ways, 
 viz. more or lefs forward or backward on the palate. This 
 diftindtion, however, I had not from the Hottentots them- 
 felves, who were, perhaps, too ignorant to go fo deep into 
 the matter. For my part, I own that my ears were not 
 nice enough to attend to fuch minute differences. I mufl 
 likewife confefs, that I did not take pains fufficient to get 
 this point cleared up to me. Neverthelefs I difcovered, as 
 foon as I got to Houtniquasy that another diale6l was fpoken 
 there, and that it differed from the former in the more or lefs 
 clacking ufed in the words. But it was fufficient for me to 
 learn, in the courfe of my journey, partly for pleafure, and 
 partly for ufe, fome common words and phrafes in the Hot- 
 tentot language. Some of thefe I have given at the end 
 of this journal. The fmacks, or clacking with the tongue, 
 I imagined it would be moft convenient to denote by a t^ with 
 an apoflrophe over it. 
 
 The Chinefe^ or Snefe Hottentots^ fo called from their 
 complexion, which is yellower than that of the other Hot- 
 
 G ^ % , tentot
 
 228 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '775- tentot nations, and therefore more like the Ch'm&fey are 
 
 September. • or 
 
 ^•vv^ like wife in their dialect very diftinct from them. There 
 is, however, fo great a refemblance between them all, that 
 they can in fome meafure underftand each other. With a 
 view to their mutual comparifon, I have likewife added a 
 fample of fome of the words of this language, aad likewife 
 of that of the CafFres, which is not clogged with that clack- 
 ing of the palate, as the Hottentot language is. 
 
 Notwithftanding this noife againft the roof of the mouth, 
 t^is laft mentioned language does not found ill, when the 
 ear is fomewhat accuftomed to it ; as the Hottentots pro- 
 nounce it with as much eafe and facility, as other nations 
 do their refpedlive languages. Farther up the country, 
 where they have no other fervants than Hottentots, the 
 children of the Chriflians frequently learn the Hottentot 
 language more eafily, and before they do the Dutch. The 
 fame thing happens with regard to the Malay tongue in 
 thofe places, where they make ufe of flaves, and efpecially 
 of nurfes, of that nation. So that, probably, all languages 
 are almoft equally eafy for children : and, if we may form 
 a conclufion from what we have juft advanced, the ten- 
 dereft age of childhood might be advantageoufly employed 
 in learning feveral languages. At the Cape I have heard 
 very young children fpeak two or three different languages 
 with equal readinefs and facility. 
 
 At this place, befides learning the Hottentot's language, 
 I had an opportunity of informing myfelf, for the firit 
 time, concerning the progrefs of this people in mufic. One 
 of their inftruments is a bow, like a fpringe-bow, a foot in 
 length, with a fine firing of thread, to the end of which 
 
 there
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. iig 
 
 there is fixed in the fame line a cloven quill half an inch g l^^^'^,.. 
 long. The infliaiment is played on in the following man- ^^yy^*j 
 ner : the muiician, applying his mouth to the quill, draws 
 in his breath very hard, fo as to put it into a quivering 
 motion, which produces a grating found. This inftru- 
 ment is called a fGoerra, a name which feems to be ap- 
 plicable enough to it, as tolerably well correfponding with 
 the found of the inftrument. 
 
 I'^Guthe is the name of another inftrument, which, pro- 
 bably, was firft made in imitation of our violin. It con- 
 lifts merely of a piece of board with three or four ftrings 
 fcrewed on to it, on which they fcrape with a bow. 
 
 l"'Koi fkoi is a fort of drum, compofed of a fkin ftretch- 
 ed over a calibafli, or hollow block. The muiic is juft 
 what might be expected from fuch an inftrument. As I 
 was fortunate enough not to be often in the way of hear- 
 ing their ftrains, and am befides no cognofcente, I have not 
 been able to note them down, if, indeed, they can be ex- 
 prefTed in notes. Their vocal mulic conlifts in finging a 
 few notes, without annexing any words to them, or, at 
 leaft, words that have any meaning. Thefe remarks 
 chiefly aftecl the Hottentots in this part of the country ; 
 for I much doubt, whether the Bolliies-men have either 
 fgutbes or f goer r as among them. 
 
 It is fo ufual to find in poems and romances the fhep- 
 herds and (hepherdelTes playing on their pipes, that my 
 readers, no doubt, will exped: to find the Hottentots w^ho 
 lead a paftoral life, employed in the fame delightful occu- 
 pation ; and, indeed, fo far it is true, that both the men 
 and women have their pipes, bvwt then they only ufe them 
 
 for
 
 230 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 K7^- for fmoking. This infcrument, which has far greater 
 C-!>J charms for them than all the mufic in the world, certain- 
 ly merits a defcription, which we fliall therefore attempt 
 in this place. 
 
 The tobacco-pipes which are made ufe of in thefe parts, 
 and, indeed, every ^\■here among the Hottentots (properly fo 
 called) are fliaped pretty nearly^ like ours, being compofed 
 of a miferable wooden bowl, and a flem of equally coarfe 
 workmanfliip. Of the Bofliies-men's pipes, as being fuf- 
 iiciently remarkable, I have given a drawing in Plate VII. 
 where in fig. 3. is reprefented an elk's horn from a foot 
 and a half to two feet in length, in the aperture of which, 
 about two inches in diameter, (fee fig. 3. a.) the Bofliies- 
 man contrives to fqueeze the whole of his mouth in fuch 
 a manner, that none of the fmoke can efcape or be loft, 
 hut pafles entire, in a column proportioned to the iize of 
 the horn, into his throat, fome part of it coming out 
 again through his noftrils. To make amends for this, 
 however, five or fix gulps content him ; a fit of coughing, 
 hawking, and rattling in his throat enfues, which he, 
 probably, confiders as a very defirable confcquence. He 
 then hands this delicious horn to his next neighbour, that 
 he may, in like manner, have the pleafure of fumigating 
 his lungs ; and in this way the horn circulates among 
 them, women as well as men, juft as the pipe does in 
 Sweden, among a company of old women fitting un- 
 der the chimney in alms-houfes. One of the Bofhies- 
 men, whom I afterwards took into my fervice, when I 
 palTed through the defeft in my way to Bruntjes Hoogte, 
 once fwallowed the fmoke of his tobacco-horn with fuch 
 
 avidity,
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 231 
 
 avidity, that I faw him fall down in a fwoon in confe- ^ */">• 
 
 beptember. 
 
 quence of it. At fig. 3. the reader may fee the ftem of ^^y\\^ 
 the pipe fixed at right angles on the fide of the horn ; and 
 the bowl, which is fometimes made of wood, and fome- 
 times of fome loofe pebble dug out of the ground, fallen- 
 ed on to the top of the ftem. 
 
 I have likewife feen goat's horns employed for this purpofe ; 
 but the preference is given to the elk's horns on account of 
 their fharp points ; they being fo handy for the Hottentot 
 to flick into the ground clofe by his fide, fo that not a par- 
 ticle of the tobacco can be lofl. One of thefe tobacco- 
 horns I have brought home with me, and keep it in the 
 collecftion of the Academy of Sciences ; though, having 
 been for the ufe of a little Hottentot woman, it is fmaller 
 and neater than ufual, being but thirteen inches in length; 
 and the aperture at its bafe, to which the mouth is appUed, 
 an inch and a half acrofs. 
 
 Their tobacco-pouches are made of the fkin of a lamb, 
 or of one of the fmaller fort of antilopes entire, with the 
 hairy fide turned outwards ; fo that in this pouch the 
 Hottentot has at the fame time room enough for his pipe, 
 tinder-box, and the refl of his implements for kindling a fire. 
 
 Befide the accurate information I received at this place 
 on the fubje(f^ of the Hottentot's mufic, language, and 
 method of fmoking, I had, the evening after my arrival 
 there, an opportunity of feeing their card-playing. By 
 this abfurd name, the colonifts have diflinguiflied the fol- 
 lowing peculiar game among thefe people, which was played 
 in this manner. Both my Hottentots, together with two 
 
 others,
 
 H^l 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^ '/^v Others, made a par tie quarree^ fitting on t'leir hams, as is 
 ^•^'v^ ufual with other unpoliflied nations. The chimney, the 
 part -of tlie room conllantly preferred by a Hottentot to 
 any otlier, was hkewife in this cafe the place they 
 chofe to occupy for playing this game ; and the afli- 
 hole might not unaptly be conlidered as their card-table, 
 as it did not un frequently happen, that in the midfl of 
 their ardour for the fport, they llruck their hands into the 
 middle of it, and raifed the aflies into clouds of duft that 
 floated all over the room, and almoft blinded one. Now, 
 as this fport fecmed to confift in an incelfant motion of the 
 arms upwards, downwards, and acrofs each other's arms, 
 without ever feeming (at leail on purpofe) to touch one 
 another, it appears to me, that the intention of this fport 
 is to open the chefl, as it were, whilft fitting, by way of 
 fuccedaneum for dancing. It is probable, however, that 
 with all this they obferve certain rules, and in certain cir- 
 cumftances, mvitually get the advantage over each other; 
 as each of them at times would hold a little peg between 
 his fore-finger and thumb, at wdiich they would burft out 
 into laughter, and, on being afked the reafon, faid, that they 
 Joft and won by turns, yet without playing for any thing. 
 One of the party, however, grew weary in two hours time, 
 and laid himfelf down to fleep ; w^hile the others kept on 
 with the fiX)rt from evening till break of day, during the 
 w^hole time continually and inceffantly pronouncing, or ra- 
 ther finging, the following words, hei pruah prhanka^ hei 
 ptruah fbeiy bet pruah ha. Of thefe w^ords they did not 
 themfelves know the meaning; and all the information 
 they could give me on the fubjedt was, that they had 
 
 learned
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. z^'3 
 
 learned them, toQ-ether with the eame, of fome of their , ^77?- 
 
 ° i» 7 Septembfr. 
 
 companions, who had heen to i:>ay a vifit to the Indians a v.-^'v^ 
 great way to the northward. Probably their /jei ptrua 
 prbankay has no more meaning in it than the fal lal deral 
 of the Europeans. I had before feen this game played a 
 little at the Cape Town, by fome Bofliies-man boys that a 
 butcher had brought home with him from Schrueuwberg^ 
 and I at this time gave orders for it to be played, on pur- 
 pofe to fatisfy my curioHty. 
 
 Vol. I. H h C H A P.
 
 234 -^ VOYAGE to the 
 
 . '"75- 
 Septemb&r, 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Journey from Zwellendam to Miifcle Bay, 
 
 ON the morning of the 5th we took leave of our 
 hofpitable friends, and arrived at a farm on the other 
 branch of BufFeljagts rivier. A little way from the farm 
 there was a grove, from whence we heard the cries of a 
 herd of monkies. Our hoft told us, that they fet up this 
 alarm, in order to give notice to each other of the approach 
 of tigers, which are wont to purfue them up into the 
 trees; when the only means thefe nimble little animals 
 have of efcaping, is to jump on to the flender twigs and 
 branches of the tree that are moft diflant from the trunk, 
 where the tigers dare not follow them. Mr. Immelman, 
 therefore, and myfelf, repaired to the place with our guns, 
 with a view to partake, in fome meafure, of the fport. We 
 were, however, out of luck, having only got a tranlient 
 glimpfe of the monkies ; we could very plainly difcern, 
 however, that they were of a coal-black colour, and about 
 the iize of an ordinary cat ; fo that, in all likelihood, they 
 form a peculiar fpecies not yet known. It is faid, that 
 there are fome of thefe animals in Groo^ Vaders-bofch and 
 Hontniqiias\ though I did not fee any there. What with 
 
 our
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 235 
 
 our fport, and what with botanizing, we flaid fo long here, ^ ^'!7j- 
 that we could go no farther that day. V^v^ 
 
 On the 6th in the morning we ordered matters fo 
 a-propos, that we arrived at dinner-time at the houfe of a 
 wealthy farmer, wdio was a captain in the militia, com- 
 pofed of his fellow peafants, or (as they are called) burghers. 
 All fuch peafants as live in Roodezand, and the whole of 
 that tract of country that lies to the eaftward, are under 
 the jurifdidion of Zwellendam, and are obhged, at a cer- 
 tain time of the year, to appear before the landroft, and 
 perform their exercife. This falls very heavy on fuch as 
 live at a great diftance, fome of them dwelling, perhaps, 
 five hundred miles off; on which account likewife, they 
 frequently pretend impediments, or elfe fubmit to pay the 
 fine at once. A ftill larger corps, compofed of the inha- 
 bitants of Camdebo, Schneeuwberg^ Bockeveld^ Roggeveld^ Ana^ 
 maquay and the other places in that part of the country, 
 are drawn up every year at Stellenbojch^ where the landroft, 
 or lord lieutenant of thefe diltridts has his refidence. The 
 burgeffy at the Cape, and the peafants from Tigerberg 
 are drawn up in the town itfelf. In the vicinity of this 
 farm the ^radaus -mountains ftretch away to the eaft, and 
 upon one part of them is fituated Groot Vaders-bofch. In 
 the evening we lay at the farm called Krofs-rivier juft by 
 the fide of the ^^t)od, in order to be near at hand for the 
 purpofe of botanizing. 
 
 This wood contained a great number of beautiful tall 
 trees, the major part of which, however, being out of 
 bloom, it could not be afcertained what fpecies they were 
 of. Molt of thofe which I examined were entirely im- 
 
 H h 2 known
 
 236 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^775- known to the botanills, and, probably, great part of the 
 ZJy^u remainder are under the fame predicament. It is, there- 
 fore, to be wiflied, that a botanift had an opportunity of 
 .remaining in this place the whole year throughout. 
 
 Beams, planks for flooring, and timber for the con- 
 ilrudlion of waggons are fetched from hence both by the 
 farmers and by government. Many forts of flirubs and 
 buflies in fome places, particularly by the Ude of the 
 wood, fill up the interitices between the larger trees, and 
 render the foreft impervious. Among thefe, feveral forts of 
 prickly ajparagufes defcrve to be remarked, as well as a new 
 fpecies of callophyUum ; which, from its catching, like the 
 thorn-bufli, faft hold of the traveller with its hooked 
 prickles, and keeping him from purfuing his journey, is 
 commonly called here zvakt een betje, or wait a bit. 
 
 On the loth, in our way from hence, we had the mis- 
 fortune to wander aftray on horfeback till a good while 
 after midnight. Being but lightly clad, we were almoft 
 frozen to death, when we arrived at a farm near Slangen- 
 rivier ; where, however, we had like to have waited in 
 the open air till the morning, as the miflrefs of the houfe, 
 who was left at home with her female Have only, did not 
 - much care (without taking a long time to confider of the 
 matter) to give houfe-room to travellers fo totally unknown 
 to her as w^e were. Indeed, it was only by the barking 
 of the dogs, that we had been enabled to difcover this 
 farm in the dark. The next morning we had the plea- 
 fure to Ice, that our Hottentots were arrived with the w^ag- 
 gon at the diftance of a couple of gun-fliots from the 
 farm, and were taking the oxen out of ^ the team on a 
 
 plain
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 237 
 
 plain near a crofs road. They gave us to underfland, that ^^ Member 
 they had got thither fome time after us, by a different by- V./^rv^- 
 road. The country round about was extremely dry and 
 arid, and fcarcely a vernal bloiTom was to be feen. The 
 reafon of this was, the univerfal want of rain, which w^s 
 every where complained of that fpring. At this place 
 there had been no rain for feveral days before; and yet 
 the trees in Groot Vaders-bofch had, as forefls ufually doj 
 attradled vapour from the clouds, and rain fufficient to 
 water them. 
 
 This day I had no fmall pleafure in feeing, for the firfb 
 time, fome Hottentots riding their oxen. They rode pretty- 
 hard over hills and dales ; and my hoftefs told me, that if 
 I was there when they came back, I fliould fee them gal- 
 loping neck or nothing ; as they were then going to drink 
 out feveral wagers at a neighbour's of hers, a farmer, who, 
 file faid, had fo little confcience, as for the fake of a very 
 trifling gain, to lead the poor pagans, by means of his 
 brandy, into riot, intemperance, and exceffes of all kinds. 
 She moreover gave the Hottentots the charadler of uling 
 the brute creation, and particularly the oxen they rode, 
 very cruelly. Befide this inllance, I have feen feveral 
 others, which confirmed this remark of her's ; but am apt 
 to believe it applies bell to fuch of them as have, in a 
 great meafure, departed from their original limplicity, in 
 confequence of their intercoiine with the Chriilians. 
 
 Thefe faddle-oxen muft be tamed and broke in while 
 they are calves. For this purpofe, a hole is bored through 
 the griftle of the nofe, large enough to hold a wooden pin, 
 to both ends of which the rope is fattened, that ferves 
 
 by
 
 238 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775- by way of bit and bridle to guide the animal with. The 
 
 September. ^ r- n r n n-riii 
 
 \^^nU iaddle conliits of a fheep-ikin rolded up together, and 
 fattened by a rope round the fore part of the ox's body. 
 Thefe oxen are by the colonifts called pack-oxen^ they be- 
 ing ahb ufed for carrying packs and burthens : the name 
 is like wife very fuitable to them on another account, which 
 is, that the Hottentots very frequently ride, feveral of them 
 together, upon one ox. There is an order of government, 
 which ordains that no Hottentot Hiall be in pofTellion of a 
 horfe ; in confequence of which, it is faid, that a Hotten- 
 tot, who w^as very fond of hunting, trained one of his pack- 
 oxen to run with fuch fpeed, as to be able to hunt elks 
 with it, and abfolutely run them down, hi general, the 
 way that the Hottentots have of eluding this prohibition, 
 is to pafs their horfes off for borrowed, which in fa6t they 
 have bought at a high price, or got in the way of barter, 
 or elfe to pretend to have them for fale on fome Chriflian's 
 account. Another law of government prohibits all Ghrif- 
 tians, under pain Of being whipped and branded, to buy, 
 or otherwife to acquire the pofleflion of, any animal be- 
 longing to a Hottentot. The reafon of this is, that go- 
 vernment having ufe for thefe animals itfelf, chufes to 
 have the benefit of this kind of traffic : the Hottentots, 
 for a bottle of brandy and a roll of tobacco a foot or 
 two long, with about a quarter of a rixdollar's worth 
 of fmall copper beads, generally felling a fpare ox, 
 worth at leaif five or fix rixdollars. What makes them 
 content with fo low a price is, that the fa6lor for go- 
 vernment (who is generally the corporal in Riet Valley) 
 is th eir only chapman ; and befides gives them to under- 
 Hand,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 239 
 
 fland, that this traffic is a kind of tax, which is laid every 1775- 
 
 ^ September. 
 
 third year on the Hottentot nation. The irreliltible attrac- ^^y^J 
 tions of brandy, hkewife, do not a httle contribute on this 
 occafion, to induce the obflinate and headftrong Hottentot 
 to part ^yith his property. 
 
 About noon we went to pay a vifit to a community of 
 Hottentots aiTembled on this fpot, who received us very 
 friendly, and invited us to drink fome of their fack-milk ; 
 which, I believe, nobody could have tailed, that had 
 not been as thirfty, and at the fame time as curious, as 
 we. We faw then our greafy, though, perhaps, not for 
 that the lefs happy, hoftefs, open a leathern bag, that would 
 hold about fix gallons, and which was made of an undrelTed 
 calf 's-fkin taken off entire, with the hairy fide turned in- 
 wards, in the manner I mentioned above on another occa- 
 fion, and at the fame time lade fome milk out of it with 
 a wooden ladle, the only one they had, and which, though 
 it was what we drank out of, the dirtiefl kitchen-wench 
 in Sweden would have been perfedlly afliamed of. But we 
 were told, that fweet milk was unwholefome, and that 
 therefore they always mixed it with the clouted milk in 
 the leathern bag. They likewife affured us, that all this 
 milk, thus mixed every day with frefli, to fupply the 
 place of what had been ufed, might be kept for many 
 weeks as good as ever, without their having the leaft oc- 
 cafion to give themfelves the trouble of looking after it, 
 or cleaning the bag in which it was kept. The tafle of 
 it refembled that of a fs^labub. By way of acknowledg- 
 ment, we gave our hofls a roll of tobacco about fix inches^ 
 
 long^t
 
 •240 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 *77>-- loner? which they feemed to conlider as a very magnificent 
 
 .Ceptember. , / u 
 
 Jurr«w/ prelcnt. 
 
 A few gun fliots from hence was feen an uncommonly 
 large hut of a conic form. We were told, that in it there 
 lived the Hottentot-Captain Rundganger. I then alked 
 my hoft, whether he belonged to the Captain's company, or 
 was under his command ? To which he anfwered, with a 
 fly farcaflic fmile, that the command of a Hottentot Cap- 
 tain extended no farther than to his wife and children; and 
 that, in fa6l, he might with equal propriety be called Ma- 
 jor, or what elfe you pleafe. Captain, fays he, is merely 
 an empty title, formerly beftowed by the regency at the 
 Cape on fome princes and patriarchs of the Hottentots, and 
 particularly on fuch, as had diftinguiflied themfelves by 
 their fidelity to their allies, by betraying their countrymen, 
 or by fome remarkable fervice. They have like wife had 
 a Dutch furname, together with a commander's llafF, he- 
 flowed upon them ; and both thefe, like letters patent of 
 nobility, have afterwards defcended in the way of inheri- 
 tance to their fons. On the other hand, it is required of 
 the Captain, that he fliall be a fpy on the other Hotten- 
 tots ; and when fearch is made after a deferter, he is in- 
 vefted by the regency at the Cape with the chief authority, 
 and confequently trouble, throughout the whole of the 
 •bufinefs. 
 
 On the receipt of this information, which fince has been 
 confirmed to me by feveral others, we haftened hence, in or- 
 der to pay our refpe6ls to a man of fo ancient and princely 
 a family as Rundganger. The patriarch was at that time 
 
 fitting
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 241 
 
 fitting and bafking himfelf before tbe door of his tent, and sen^mber. 
 in this pofture waited till we came up to him, in order v^ry-^ 
 to receive us. He was fomewhat above forty years of age, 
 and of fuch an emdonpoint^ as I never faw before nor fince 
 in one of his nation. This was in all probability occafion- 
 ed by his great fuperiority of wealth in the article of cat- 
 tle, by which means he could live better than another, and 
 at the fame time lead a more indolent life, void of care and 
 anxiety. By means of a little tobacco, and other trifling 
 civilities, fhewn a-propos to this illuftrious family, we in 
 a manner gained his confidence. He could not forbear 
 (though with fome degree of caution and in gentle terms) 
 making complaints of the Dutch, as unjuft invaders of the 
 Hottentots territories. For want of ftrength and power, (he 
 faid) thefe latter were now no longer in a condition to with- 
 fland their encroachments ; almoll: every day fome Hottentot 
 or other being obliged to remove with his cattle, whenever 
 the pafture he was in pofTeflion of, happened to fuit a co- 
 lonift. The Hottentot Captains had, indeed, formerly, 
 been left undifturbed in their pofleflions ; but now they 
 had likewife elbowed him, though a Captain, out of a 
 more eligible lituation; and even began to grudge him 
 the meagre and parched fields he was in poflefiion of 
 nearer the fea-fiiore; notwithftanding that they were ex- 
 tremely dangerous for fiieep and cattle, both on account 
 of the unhealthinefs of the fituation, and its being expofed 
 to the incurfions of wild beafts. He likewife complained 
 of his own countrymen, that now they could feldom agree 
 among themfelves, and were all particularly envious of 
 him ; lb that he could not venture to fell a fupernumerary 
 Vol. I. I i ox
 
 242 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 , ^7'/\' OX to a farmer, for fear left his own i^eople and kindred 
 
 oeptembcr. ^ * 
 
 V•^'^^ flioukl tell tales of him to the landroft of Zwellendam. 
 I had before this heard it faid, that, among the Hottentots, 
 the youngeft fon was the principal, and, I had almoft faid, 
 the fole heir. Captain Run dg anger a6lually confirmed 
 to me the reality of this very peculiar law, mforming me, 
 that all his cattle, together with his title of Captain and 
 his ftaff, would, after his death, fall to the fliare of his 
 youngeft fon. As I was curious to fee the enfign of his 
 authority, or rather of his vaflalage, I mean his Captain's 
 ftaft", he fliewed me the cane he had in his hand, which 
 was a fliort and very plain hidian (or, as it is generally call- 
 ed, Spanifli) bamboo, with a very indifferent copper head 
 three inches long, which cane he was bound always to 
 carry about him. I have mentioned before, that Run dg an- 
 ger's hut feemed of an imufual fize ; in facSt, it was three 
 or four times larger than common, and fo roomy as to 
 allow of a bedchamber and wardrobe being parted off from 
 it by means of mats. With refpedl to the building, it 
 was compofed of poles, placed fo as to meet in a point at 
 top, and afterwards covered with ftraw, fo that altogether 
 it had the fl;iape of a cone. It is probable, that the title 
 of Captain, hereditary in the Rundganger family, had 
 in fome meafure given them the idea of thus building their 
 huts in a more polifhed and civilized ftyle than the reft of 
 their countrymen ; ^nd I think it cannot be denied, but 
 that a certain degree of ambition is abfolutely requifite 
 in the Hottentot people, in order to convert their craals 
 into more poliflied and laborious communities; in like man- 
 ner as this fame pafliop, on the other hand, may be car- 
 ried-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 243 
 
 ried to fiich a height in civilized nations, as to make them ^ ^"^v- 
 
 o ' i)ep:emDer. 
 
 degenerate again into their prifline inadlivity and iloth, and «wOr'>-' 
 produce all the evils naturally confequent on luch an alte- 
 ration of manners. 
 
 Henceforward it would be too tedious and prolix,- and 
 indeed unnecefTary, to give an account of every day fepa- 
 rately, jull as I wrote it down in my journal : as by that 
 means, remarks not diffimilar to the preceding might 
 chance to occur very frequently. From what has been 
 already defcribed, it will perhaps eafily be imagined, that 
 our expedition confiiled for the greater part of daily vexa- 
 tions, anxiety, and difficulties, very moderate pleafures, 
 and trifling difcoveries, the relation of which would by no 
 means intereft the generality of readers. I fhall therefore 
 make feparate mention of certain days only, throwing all 
 together in a promifcuous manner, fuch occurrences as hap- 
 pened on the reft. 
 
 We continued our route, palling over DuyvenboeJ!S-7'hter^ 
 and taking the upper road through Kafferkuyls-rivier^ and 
 fo on through Gaurit-rivier. From thence through a 
 green vale, called Honing-klip (Honey-rock ;) from this 
 place to and from MoJfel-ba\'^ then over Klein and Groot 
 Brak-riviers into Houtniquas land, as far as is indicated by 
 the dots on the map. 
 
 Perhaps it may not be abfolutely without ufe to remark 
 in this place, that at Duyvenhoeks-rivier we firft faw the 
 dorn booniy or tree called mimofa niloticaj which produces 
 the gum arable. The river juft mentioned is deep, and 
 has rather a ftrong current. ProfefTor Thunberg (it is faid) 
 
 I i 2 in
 
 244 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^77 s- in riclinef over it, mifTed the fliallowefl part, and was in 
 
 September. ^ 
 
 v.^'vx^ danger of being drowned. 
 
 Drooge and Natte (dry and wet) riviers were now both 
 dried up. Kafferkuyh- or Pahnit-rivier^ was flill tolerably 
 broad at the upper ford, and overgrown with palmites. The 
 water, indeed, was dried up in moft places; but, on the 
 other hand, our oxen were obliged to drag the waggon 
 through a mafs of mud, that reached up to their bellies ; 
 and we fliould certainly, wdth our ordinary equipment, 
 have flvick fall: in it, if a farmer had not lent us his bajlard 
 flave to drive the waggon over. This fellow had fuch an 
 incomparable knack of whipping the oxen up without in- 
 termiliion, that they had not the leaft opportunity to flinch 
 from the bufinefs. 
 
 Falfe-rivier is an infignificant ftream ; but the great 
 quantity of butter-milk, which the farmer dwelling on its 
 banks threw out here by pail-fulls, made a ftream of fome 
 importance, notwithilanding that five or fix large dogs had 
 previoully drank their fwill of it, not to mention what had 
 been confumed in the family. The farmer at this place 
 w^as one of the greater farmers called graziers, whofe whole 
 income depended on grazing cattle. The milk was col- 
 lected together from the milkings of two, three, or more 
 days, and kept in a tub till they had an opportunity of 
 churning it; which they ufually did every other or every 
 third day, at leaft part of it, in a veiTel that would contain 
 between one and two hogfheads. The churn-ftafF was 
 raifed and wrought by no lefs than two, and fometimes 
 four people, in the fame way as the handle of a common 
 pump. 
 
 7 In
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 245 
 
 In this colony the people are neither notable enough, nor gep^tlmber 
 indeed is it much worth their while, to prefs out all the but- V-^-vO 
 ter, which might be feparated from their milk, as they do 
 with us ; on which account, likewife, I always found their 
 butter-milk greafy and rank in comparifon with ours. 
 
 Hardly any body here troubles himfelf with fatting 
 hogs, and this is the reafon that they are fo lavifh of their 
 butter-milk. Thofe farmers who have a tolerable fhare of 
 l)all:ure ground and cattle, make from one thoufand eight 
 hundred to three thoufand five hvuidred pounds of butter 
 in a year. This quantity is carried to the Cape in one or 
 tw^o journies, and is fold at the rate of from three to fix 
 ftivers a pound. 
 
 The towns-people, that buy up this butter, fell the greater 
 part of it again to the fiiips, at a profit of from twenty to 
 one hundred per cent. The more wealthy farmers derive 
 this farther advantage from their grazing farms, that every 
 other, or every third year, they can difpofe of eight or ten 
 oxen, fome to the butchers, others to the people that carry 
 wood between the town and fliore, and others again to other 
 farmers that live nearer to the Cape; and having lefs room 
 for grazing cattle, and a readier vent for their wine and 
 meal, get their livelihoods entirely by cultivating the earth. 
 Thefe graziers, likewife, derive an income more or lefs 
 confiderable from the fale of weathers. A number of 
 thefe, from twenty to one hundred, they difpofe of yearly, 
 at the rate of from fix fchellings to a dollar the head, 
 Dutch money. With all this, the vender needs not to ftir 
 out of liis own houfe ; as the butcher's men go about, 
 buying' them up, and afterwards drive them in flocks con- 
 fining
 
 .^6 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^775- fifling of feveral hundreds, and fometimes even thoufands, 
 v!/^^ to the llaughter-hovifes at the Cape, about the times when 
 the fleets are chiefly expelled. A great number of the 
 peafants in this country are termed grazing farmers or gra- 
 ziers, the chief, and fometimes the whole of their income, 
 depending on their breeding of fheep. One of thefe gra- 
 ziers will, perhaps, be mafter of one, two, or even three 
 thoufand flieep at a time. This is no unufual circumftance, 
 particularly in the very dry parched plains in this country ; 
 luch as Camdebo-, Rogge- and Bokke-n:elden^ (fields or plains) 
 the great Carrows^ &:c. all which, taken together, and in- 
 cluding feveral Imaller tra6ts of land, are, from their 
 qualities, dillinguifhed by the colonifts by the name of 
 Carrow-veld, 
 
 It may be proper here to give a more accurate defcrip- 
 tion of thefe tra61s of land, as well as of thofe called by 
 the colonifts Zuur and Zoet, The Carrow-veld^ taken in 
 its moft extenfive fignification, is horridly parched up and 
 arid. In thefe parts, during the whole fummer, or the 
 warmer part of the year, there hai\lly falls a drop of rain. 
 The grovmd is as dry and bare of grafs as a high road ; 
 and the flirubs on it are, to all appearance at leaft, dried 
 up, and in a languifliing ftate. The earth, which at moft 
 times bears an arid meagre appearance, and at this time 
 particularly, is, in the manner juft mentioned, divefted of 
 all its lively verdure, looks naked, and being withal full 
 of clefts and chinks in different places, feems quite lan- 
 guifhing with drought and thirft. High and cold moun- 
 tains of granite, frequently to all appearance rich in iron 
 ore, furround thefe lands on ah fides. Here the fun 
 
 fcorches
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 247 
 
 fcorches the traveller up with its reflecSted ravs, and the „ *775- 
 
 *■ ■' ' beptember^ 
 
 ground almofl burns him through the foles of his llioes» L/'yaJ* 
 In a fliort time totally relaxed, enervated and weak, he 
 finds himfelf bathed in fweat, and at the fame time as 
 thirfly as the obje6ts by which he is furrounded ; whilft he 
 is fatiated ^ven to difguft with viewing the defolatenefs of 
 the vegetable kingdom, and the refie6lions which fuch a 
 fight tends to infpire. In winter, or the colder feafon, on 
 the other hand, there falls on the Carrozv-ve/d 2. great quan- 
 tity of rain, while the thunder daily and even hourly rolls 
 with loud tremendous peals in the furrounding mountains. 
 The clouds, wiiich during this are colledled almoll inftan- 
 taneoufly, fall down again in heavy fliowers, that deluge 
 both the hills and the plains. The earth, by this means 
 refrefhed, quickly receives the feeds and roots committed 
 to its care, and particularly the fucculent plants, which in 
 a peculiar manner delight in this kind of foil. Upon this 
 they foon become verdant, and throw out their tender 
 bloffoms, clothing th€ ground in the very depth of win^ 
 ter with a fummer garb, in all the fplendor of magnificence 
 and beauty. 
 
 The fucculent plants with which Flora at this time thus 
 decks herfelf, while fhe feems to deviate from the regu- 
 lar order of the feafons, are chiefly the following : feve- 
 ral forts of mefembryanthemu7ns^ w^hich grow in clufiers, 
 with white, red, blue, but mofily yellow flowers; crajjulas 
 with red flowers ; befides various fpecies of cotyledons y 
 flapelias^ and euphorbias. 
 
 All thefe, nay, the very tops of the euphorbias are eaten 
 by the flieep, which even grow extremely fat upon them; 
 
 butj,
 
 248 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^Tn- but, as in fummer they have nothing elfe to fuflain themfelves 
 
 September, ^ cj 
 
 K^rr^ with, they content themfelves with browzing on the uirubs 
 and buflies ; and notwithflanding this, do not by any means 
 fare ill. The larger kinds of cattle cannot make fo good a 
 fliift with mere flirubs, but are obliged to feek for reeds and 
 other green vegetables in the rivers ; for which reafon, where 
 the inhabitants of the Carrow live in fuch low fituations, 
 they remove in the fummer up to the ridges of moun- 
 i:ains and hills, where they find the ufual fummer climate, 
 with rain at intervals, plenty of grafs, and cool refrefli- 
 ing breezes, hi the winter, it is faid both to hail and 
 fnow on divers of the mountains; on which account the 
 coionifts leave them at that time, in order to enjoy in the 
 Carrow^ or lower fituations, the benefit of a mild winter, 
 accompanied with rain and a delightful verdure, as I have 
 defcribed it above. Allured by the fame advantages, the 
 wild harts or gazells likewife come down into the plains, 
 and are followed by the beafts of prey. To the different 
 forts of corn the Carrow climate is fo far unfavourable, 
 that in cafe they are fowed in the winter or the rainy 
 feafon, they are (as I have been informed by the inhabi- 
 tants, w^ho have made many attempts of the kind) apt to 
 be rotted by the too great abundance of water ; and if 
 put into the ground in fummer, they cannot fpring up 
 on account of the great drought. Notwithflanding all 
 thefe natural difadvantages, however, to the honour of the 
 forecafl and diligence of man in a ftate of civilization be 
 it fpoken, one very frequently fees, even in the parched 
 and dry Carrow plains, fields of corn, kitchen-gardens, 
 and vineyards, verdant and flourifiiing in the highefl de- 
 gree ;
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 249 
 
 gree ; ^vhile the wild plants around them die, or languifli ^^ ^IJJ{^^^ 
 with drought. This remarkable appearance proceeds V-^^r^ 
 from the water being brought dpwn at pleafure from the 
 nearefl mountains, and carried all over their fields and 
 plantations. 
 
 What are termed by the colonifls the Zuur-velden^ or 
 Sour-fields^ are fuch as lie fomewhat higher and cooler 
 than the fliore, and thus are better fupplied with rain than 
 the other plains; which, however, abound more in grafs. 
 The different forts of grafs here are likewife perennial, and 
 coarfer than thofe of the former; at the fame time that 
 their blades have a hairy roughnefs in them, and are 
 broader. The cattle in thefe trads of country are fome- 
 what given to chew unwholefome fubftances, fuch as thongs 
 of leather, chalk, and bones ; and are even accuftomed, in 
 faikire of every thing elfe of the kind, to gnaw each others 
 horns. This circumftance, which feems to denote an acid 
 in the flomach of the cattle, may, probably, have given oc- 
 cafion to the appellation beftowed on thefe plains. Some of 
 the Caifre plains are laid likewife to poiTefs this acid quali- 
 ty in fo high a degree, as to occalion the cattle at night, 
 when fliut up in their flails, to gnaw each other's horns, 
 by which means their horns have the appearance of carved 
 work; a circumftance which ought, therefore, by no means 
 to be afcribed, as it has been, to the manual operations 
 of the Caffre herdfmen, or to the efteds of imagination 
 only. 
 
 To conclude, with refpedl to the Zuur'i:elde?2j it is re- 
 marked by the colonics, that there is lefs milk in propor- 
 tion, but more as well as better butter than ii:i the Zoct^ 
 
 Vol. I. K k '■jeldciiy
 
 ^So 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1-75- velden-^ though in theie latter places the cattle get fatter, 
 
 Sepu-inber. r- r 7 ^ r 7 \ r- i 1 
 
 \.,ry^^ By the Sweet-Jields \^Zoet-velaen) are meant luch places as 
 do not correfpond to the defcriptions given above of the 
 7Aiiir and Carrow-vcki. Such Ipots as are low, rather 
 fandy, and he near tlie fliore, are given as inflances of the 
 Zoet plains ; as the Zuur again are Honing-khp, Houtni- 
 quas-land, and the greater part of Lange-kloof and Caffre- 
 land. 
 
 For the purpofe of feeding flieep, the Car row is cond- 
 dered as the bell land, and the Zmcr-velden the lealf, if at 
 all, fit. For cattle it has been found to anfwer better, v/hen 
 thev could be removed off and on from one of thefe kinds 
 of land to the other. The conftant and unequivocal expe- 
 rience of the colonifts, with regard to this point, agrees with 
 the refult of the pradice of the Hottentots ; though this, in 
 fa6t, has its origin almoft entirely in prejudice ; for as foon 
 as any of them, or of their cattle, fall fick and die, or any 
 other misfortune happens to, or even only threatens them, 
 they immediately remove their flation. This, perhaps, 
 is one of the principal caufes that the cattle of the Hot- 
 tentots, in fome meafure, keep up to their original Itandard ; 
 whilft, on the contrary, thole of the chrifbians degene- 
 rate to a fmaller race ; and that chiefly in thofe parts which 
 lie nearer to the Cape, and therefore have been longer 
 inhabited and cultivated. 
 
 It has likewife been remarked, beyond a fliadow of 
 doubt, that fuch places as before abounded in grafs, and 
 were very fertile in corn and the produce of the kitchen- 
 garden, are now fallen off confiderably ; fo that it is feared, 
 that they muff in a fliort time be given up. The rbino- 
 
 ceroS'
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 251 
 
 cer'OS'h\\{h (a fpecies oi Jloebe) a dry fhrub, which is other- s^'^^T)^ 
 wife ufed to thrive on barren trails of land, now begins V^yv^ 
 to encroach more and more on fuch places as have been 
 thoroughly cleared and cultivated. When I afked the 
 country people the reafon of this, they would lay the 
 blame on their fins. Their confciences, probably, inform- 
 ed them, that there was great reafon for fo doing. One 
 of their fms which moft merited this punifhment, as 
 having contributed mofl to the evil, might, in this cafe, 
 be reckoned their want of knowing how to drefs properly 
 the foil they occupied, and to manage it to the bell advan- 
 tage. As the grounds that are newly broken up are, in 
 every country, and in all parts of the world, more fertile 
 than they can be expedled to be after fome time, it is no 
 wonder, that the lands in Africa at prefent require more 
 drelling and manuring than the colonifts think proper to- 
 bellow on them ; but which is abfolutely neceffary, in or- 
 der to keep them up in that degree of heart and flrength 
 which they have before, during a period of many ages, 
 had time to acquire. 
 
 hi direcT: contradiction to the cuflom and example of the 
 original inhabitants the Hottentots, the colonhls turn their 
 cattle out conllantly into the fame fields, and that too in 
 a much greater quantity than ufed to graze there in the time 
 of the Hottentots ; as they keep not only a number fuffi- 
 cient for their own ufe, but likewife enough to fupply the 
 more plentiful tables of the numerous inhabitants of Cape 
 Town, as well as for the vidlualling of the fliips in their 
 pafiage to and from the Eafl-Indies with frefh, and even 
 with falted pro villous . In confequeixe of the fields be- 
 
 K k 2 ing
 
 ^-^ AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^ ^ ^ 
 
 '77^ ing thus continually grazed off, and the great increafe of the 
 C^"^'" cattle feeding on them, the graiies and herbs which thefe 
 animals moil: covet are prevented continually more and 
 more from thriving and taking root ; while, on the con- 
 trary, the r/jinoceros-huih, which the cattle always pafs 
 by and leave untouched, is fuffered to take root free and 
 unmolefted, and encroach on the place of others : fo that 
 this ought to appear the lefs Ifrange to the colonics, as 
 this puniihment for their Tins (as they call the rhinoceros- 
 bulh,) together with feveral other dry barren Ihrubs and 
 buflies, is found in greater abundance than any where elfe 
 near their farms, the place where the cattle are chiefly 
 ufed to feed. Notwithltanding thefe inconveniencies, the 
 colonifls remain immoveable in their flone houfes ; Vvhile, 
 on the contrary, the Hottentots (and this was the cafe 
 m former times) on the leaf!: panic remove their huts 
 and cattle to another place, fo that the grafs is no where 
 eaten off too clofe. Together with this diminution of 
 pafturage, there is another circumflance which contributes 
 not a little to the degeneracy of the breed ; this is, that 
 the calves, on account of the great quantity of butter 
 made, (which never was the cafe with the Hottentots) are 
 reared up with lefs milk than formerly. In the mean 
 time, if they go on in this manner, the prefage of the 
 country people may chance to prove true, viz. that many 
 fpots that are now inhabited and cultivated, mufl be re- 
 linquifhed and fuffered to lie wafte. But it may like- 
 wife happen, that time and reft may at length reftore to 
 the foil the heart and ftrength, which the colonifts have 
 deprived it of; and that the grafs and herbage may, in 
 
 their
 
 CAPE OF GOOD PI OPE. 
 
 253 
 
 I77C. 
 
 their turn, have an opportiinitv of extruding: the flirubs and , ■ -, 
 
 i X ^ o Scptenioer. 
 
 buflies, after having received the protedion of the flielter ^•v^ 
 and fliade of thefe latter; and after having, by undergo- 
 ing a kind of putrefadlion, made themfelves a foil more 
 fertile and better adapted to their nature. It is alio not 
 improbable, that the game, finding more fecurity from 
 the fportfmen here than formerly, may refort hither in 
 great numbers : and it is well known, that in feeding they 
 make a more equal diviiion between the grafs and buflies 
 than the ordinary cattle do ; nay, it may happen, that the 
 gazell's dung and other accidental circumftances, which peo- 
 ple here have negle(5led to make trial of, may come to ex- 
 tirpate the r/jhioceros-hu{h hi its turn. The animals which 
 occur only in Africa are, in my opinion, as much defigned 
 for the plants peculiar to this climate, as the plants are for 
 the animals. The rein-deer ^ for inflance, an animal defin- 
 ed by nature for the climate of Lapland, and for the mofs 
 with which it is covered, by botaniils called lichen ran^i- 
 feriis^ is in that place domefticated with the greatelf ad- 
 vantage ; where, however, cattle would thrive very ill. 
 The elk^ another of nature's kind prefents to our climate, 
 was formerly conlidered as a fit fubjedl for the chace only, 
 (which, in facl, was the chief employment of mofl na- 
 tions, and even of the moll favage) till our more confi- 
 derate countrymen and truly zealous patriots, the Barons 
 Alstroemmer, by propofing premiums and by other me- 
 thods, endeavoured to make this ftately, ftrong, and fwift- 
 footed animal likewife domeflic, and thereby more fervice- 
 able to the country it inhabits, hiduced by thefe exam- 
 ples, the African colonifls ought to take it into ferious 
 
 confideration,
 
 254 
 
 A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 177 J. confideration, whether by extirpating the game, they are 
 \^^!^' not in reahty laying waite their country, and rendering it 
 a defert. 
 
 It is faid, that a farmer once attempted to deltroy and ex- 
 tirpate all the rhinoceros-bufhes on his lands by fire, but 
 that they afterwards grew up again more vigorous than 
 ever ; fo that, as well with refpedt to the efFe6ts of the in- 
 duftry of man as to the more immediate operations of na- 
 ture, it is not at all unlikely, that future ages may fee this 
 part of Africa entirely changed and different from what it 
 is at prefent. 
 
 Gaurits-rivier is likewife called Goud's-riviery probably,, 
 from the refemblance in found between thefe two words ; 
 or elfe from the latter word being more eafy to pronounce, 
 and not with any reference to gold^ to which it might 
 otherwife feem to allude. This river, which, farther to 
 the northward, is likewife called OlifarLfs-rivier^ is one 
 of the mofl conliderable in this part of Africa: and though 
 it was at that time in a great meafure dried up, there was 
 yet a llrong current, and it was dangerous to ford over, as it 
 was not only very broad and pretty deep at the fording-place,. 
 but made a particular bend there ; fo that we fliould have 
 been badly off, if we had not fortunately happened to- 
 have been told of it in good time. 
 
 The banks of the river were extremely high and quite 
 perpendicular, excepting juft at the place where the paf- 
 fage was. The water fometimes fwells fo fuddenly and 
 unexpedtedly as to come unawares upon travellers, even 
 while they are palling over it, and either drown them 
 or carry them out to fea. A peafant^ who fome time be- 
 fore
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 255 
 
 fore made a halt at ni^ht near the ford of this river, had, ^775- 
 
 mi 1 t 1 September. 
 
 by ail unexpected noodnig, been warned away and loft, v-*^r>^ 
 with his wife and children, and the waggon in which 
 they were fleeping. 
 
 The reafon of thefe fudden floods is partly the hafty 
 melting of the Ihow on the various high mountains which 
 lie to the northwards, and partly the falling of heavy 
 rains in the cxtenfive Carrow-Reld, lying to the north of 
 this fpot; in which plain Oliphants or Ganrits-rivier^ by 
 means of divers fmall branches, has its fource, as is partly 
 -fliewn in the map. 
 
 Going from Ganrits-rlvier^ and afterwards from Honing- 
 klipy which is a narrow vale, we kept to the right, in order 
 to get to Mqffel- bay^ and fo over the Brak rivers to the Hout- 
 niquas foreft s ; we having been particularly advifed not to 
 go as yet to Lange-kloof] as, on account of a great drought 
 and deficiency of rain then fubfifting in thofe parts, our 
 cattle would run the rifk of being famiflied. 
 
 The Brak rivers have got this appellation from the 
 quality of their waters, which are brackifli or faltifli, in 
 confequence of the lea coming up into them, and occa- 
 fioning in the cattle which are not ufed to them a troublefome 
 diarrhoea. Of this circumftance I was ignorant, and con- 
 fequently my oxen were attacked with this complaint ; by 
 which they were fo much debilitated, that I was obliged 
 to leave my waggon on a hill, till a peafant in Hout niquas 
 drove thither with a team of his oxen to bring it off. 
 
 Juft below the farm that lies to the weftward of little 
 
 Brak-rivier^ and is called Geelbeks-valley^ there is a tra<5l of a- 
 
 bout two-thirds of an acre of land, which is always bare of 
 
 8 plants,
 
 2^6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »775- plants, and in part covered with a hoar froft. This was 
 \SryyU miftaken by the colonifts for faltpetre, but was, in fa6l, 
 nothing more than line fea-falt. When this kind of hoar 
 froft appeared in greater abundance than common, the 
 neighbouring inhabitants looked on it as a certain fign of 
 an impending fall of weather. 
 
 I vifited Mojfel-bay on horfeback. This harbour, though 
 it lies rather open to the eafterly winds, and is not re- 
 forted to by fliips, except in cafes of extreme neceflity, 
 might, however, in many refpeds prove very ufeful, were 
 it better known. 
 
 On a ftone hereabouts is engraved an infcription as fol- 
 lows : Captain Swenfinger, of the Danidi fhip the Kron- 
 Prinfefsy -^7 5 2. The inhabitants informed us, that the 
 fliip here alluded to had been driven in there by a ftorm 
 and run aground; and that fome of the failors having 
 fwam afliore and got a couple of lines, by means of them 
 a ftout rope had been ftretched from the fliip's maft to the. 
 ihore ; upon this, which thus had a floping dire6lion given 
 to it, a large metal ring was hung, to which every one of 
 the crew feparately was tied faft, and Aid on fhore one af- 
 ter the other, when the ring was immediately brought back 
 again to the fliip by means of a line. When the ftorm 
 was over, part of the lading was faved, and taken to the 
 Cape in waggon.s. The country people who lived neareft 
 the fpot afllired me, that fliips would frequently manoeuvre 
 at the mouth of the harbour, as though they were ia 
 fearch of the port, but could not rightly tell where to 
 look for it ; one in particular, was faid to have fired feveral 
 giuis as lignals of diftrefs, before fhe ventured in. The. 
 
 reafou
 
 C A PE OF G O O t) H O P E, 257 
 
 reafon of this was fuppofed to be, that the place is eafily September 
 mirtaken, as from the charts people are induced to look v^^'^^ 
 for an ifland here; which, however, is, in fa6t, nothing 
 more than a low inconfiderable rock, which at flood lies 
 for the greater part under water, and muft neceffarily ap- 
 pear to the fliips that are running into it as if it was join- 
 ed to the land ; and indeed, it was partly this circumftance 
 that was the occafion of Captain Swenfinger's misfortune : 
 and it is faid, that on the whole coaft between Falfe- 
 bay 2iX\AMoJ]el-bay there is no anchorage to be found. In fad:, 
 it feems as if government wiflied to keep navigators in fome 
 degree in the dark with refpedl to Mojfel-bay^ as a Jftore-houfe 
 with a fiag-ftaff, which the captain of a Danifh veiTel had 
 credled there, was deftroyed immediately after his departure 
 from the place ; and at the fame time, all buildings prohi- 
 bited within fight of the harbour. This condu6l is cer- 
 tainly not founded on the foundeft policy ; for a more ac- 
 curate knowledge of Moffel-bay, may be the future means 
 of faving fome vefTel,- which may by ftrefs of weather be 
 forced to run into it. Being convinced of this from di- 
 vers conllderaticns, and no one having given any delcrip- 
 tipn (at leaft in print) of this harbour, I think it my 
 duty, till farther information is given on this fubjed, to 
 communicate the refult of my obfervations, however im- 
 perfed, upon it. There was not a boat to be found in 
 the bay, therefore I cannot give the foundings. By means 
 of the compafs I had brought with me I marked out the 
 fhore here, having inveftigated it, partly on foot and part- 
 ly oh horfeback, as far as is indicated by the dots in the 
 map. The Danes who ran aground here aflured the in- 
 VoL. 1. LI habitants.
 
 258 A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 ^ ^77^' habitants, that there was a eood faiidy bottom for an- 
 
 Sepiembcr. '~^ 
 
 v.x->->^ cliorage; and that the miall bend or inlet to the fouth- 
 \ve(t, had depth of \vater fufficient to contain a lliip. 
 
 For the purpofe of getting acquainted with the har- 
 bour, fuppofing the reader to have acquired a previous 
 knowledge of the latitude, and to have compared it with 
 the fmall portion that I have pricked out on my map, it 
 may likewife be of ufe to him to be informed, that the 
 north, or north- wefl fliore, is without any rocks or ftones, 
 being compofed of verdant hills covered with fhrubs and 
 bullies, excepting jufl at each of the fpots, where Heerte 
 and Kleine Brak rivers empty themfelves ; the fand there- 
 abouts having been raifed up to fome height by the fea- 
 ^vind, fo as to have encroached on the verdure of the pro- 
 fpedl. The fouth-weft fliore, on the contrary, is very 
 ftony and mountainous ; though jufl at the water-fide it is 
 low, one place excepted, which, at a very fmall diflance 
 from the water, appears with a rock-head, as it is called, 
 or a rocky hill, flat on the top, wliich at the fea-fide is 
 perj^endicular. 
 
 It is, probably, not difficult to land here with boats 
 in fair weather ; but at this time, the bay was greatly agi- 
 tated by a wind from the fea ; and the height of the wa- 
 ter, which continued even in the afternoon, prevented us 
 from catching oyfters, which, we were informed, might 
 otherwife have been met with at this place. Watering muft 
 be very a tedious and laborious bufinefs, as things are fituated 
 here at prefent ; for there is only one very inconfiderable 
 rill of frefh water here, which runs down into the above- 
 mentioned inlet, where the anchoring-place is; but 'at the 
 
 diflance
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 259 
 
 dillance of a few ftones throw from the fcrand, is the well- ^ ^775- 
 
 ' oeptember. 
 
 fpring itfelf, of fuch a width and depth, as to give one V.•^-HJ 
 reafon to fuppofe, that one might fill with eafe a couple 
 of hogflieads at a time with frefli, clear, and well-tafted 
 water. By properly purifying this water, and making a 
 conduit for it, there might pollibly be Itill an alteration 
 made for the better. Indeed, I know many inflances, where 
 by digging a tolerably deep pit near a fliore, particularly 
 if it were fandy, frefli water has been abforbed into the 
 pit and filled it. This likewife renders credible an account 
 that I heard from fome peafants in Houtniquas^ that being 
 on a hunting party near the mouth of Brak-rhier, and 
 finding themfelves extremely thirfty, it came into their 
 heads to make an experiment, and flick a reed to the 
 depth of a foot and a half into the fand near the level of 
 the fea, when, contrary to their expectation, in a fliort 
 time they were enabled to fuck up through their reed a 
 quantity of frefli and well-tafted water. 
 
 L 1 2 CHAP.
 
 26o A VOYAGE to the 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Journey through the Houtniquas, 
 
 ^775- T To UTNI'^UAS Land, which is a woody tradt of 
 
 September. # # • r r ^ 
 
 \^,yy^>^ -*• -*• country, is fuppofed to commence to the eaftward 
 of Groote Brak-rivier, and to extend to Keureboojns-rivier, 
 which empties itfelf into Algoa-bay, To the northward this 
 diftridl is entirely feparated from Lange Kloof, by a long 
 and very high range of mountains, extending from eaft to 
 weft. Along the fide of thefe mountains runs a wood, 
 to the trees, herbs, and general properties of which, the 
 defcription I gave of Groot Fader s' Bofcb is equally ap- 
 plicable. 
 
 On the weftern fide of Keerom-rivier, or the hither fide 
 of Houtniquas, between the wood juft fpoken of and the 
 fea-fhore, there are extenfive plains of indifferent grafs. 
 There are like wife in the vales near the fliore, fome woody 
 tradts of land and ftreams of frefli water ; fo that two far- 
 mers have lately made a new fettlement here, who will 
 find no difficulty in getting their livelihood, in the fame 
 manner as the other farmers do, who have fet themfelves 
 down in the upper and more extenfive fide of the forefi, 
 by felling of timber, and at the fame time they may fow 
 
 corn.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 261 
 
 corn and rear cattle fufficient to anfwer the demands of their „ '/^l' 
 
 September. 
 
 families. The tra6t of country Ivino- between Keerom and O'vn^ 
 Keurebcoms-rhkrs, makes the internal part of Houtniquas, 
 and is faid to be almoft entirely covered with woods. This 
 part I had no opportunity to villt, and therefore was obliged 
 to be contented with putting down on the map the farms 
 and rivers as well as I could conceive them from an ac- 
 count, which, however, was not very accurate or diflind:, 
 given me by a farmer, who had travelled a good deal in 
 that diflrid:. 
 
 Keerom-rivier (or Turnabout-river) in which the fmaller 
 branches Zwart-rivier and Trakudiku meet, has obtained 
 its name from the circumftance of the perfon who firft 
 travelled this w^ay, having been obliged to turn back at 
 this river, on account of the denfe and almoft impenetra-' 
 ble forefts that grew every where by the lide of it. 
 
 Keurebooms-rivicr is perhaps fo called, after a tree af the 
 fame name (I'aQ fopbo7'a capenfis^ Linx.) On this kind of 
 tree there is found a great quantity of gum, refembling 
 that of the cherry-tree, but not fo adhefive. I have hard- 
 ly ever feen a tree of this kind any where elfe, excepting 
 a few at Bay Falfo and in Conjlantia diftridl. 
 
 Algoa-bay is faid not to have been once viiited by the 
 fhips, fince Houtniquas has been inhabited and cultivated. 
 It was thought, however, that the harbour was very fit 
 for ufe, and convenient both for wooding and watering, of 
 both which articles there is a great abundance. It is pretty 
 much expofed to the fea-winds ; though, on the other 
 hand, the winds do not blow with fuch violence here as 
 at the Cape. I could get no farther oral information with 
 
 refpe(5t
 
 262 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^ '77?; refpe6l to this harbour; but a defcription of the coafl that 
 
 Sepiember. ^ , ^ 
 
 C/nrO I have met with, lays, that the weftern creek hes in lat. 
 33 deg. 55 miii. and that from the outermoft point a reef 
 extends about a mile out ; and that in the place, where the 
 bay bends in two leagues to the weft, fhips may lie at an- 
 chor in good ground, well flieltered from the north-eafl, 
 north- weft, and fouth winds. There is, however, in this 
 fame defcription an erroneous obfervation, viz. that no 
 other than brackifti or falt-water is to be got at Mojfel-bay. 
 
 Algoa-bay^ which I have briefly mentioned above, I have 
 been obliged to be content with laying down in my map, 
 merely in confequence of fome hints given by M. Adolphus 
 BuRTZ, captain of a Swedifli Eaft-hidiaman, on the autho- 
 rity of fome old chart. The defcription of the coaft before 
 referred to, moreover mentions, that Algoa-bay is a deep in- 
 let, where there is abundance of wood and frefti w^ater ; 
 and alfo that in failing into it, one finds from twenty-four 
 to ten fathom of water, with a reef extending a league into 
 thefea; which, however, if there be occafion for it, may 
 be avoided, by running round to the north of it. 
 
 Inafmuch as the bays above-mentioned (fetting afide 
 another in Krakekamma) feem very well adapted for ufe, 
 at leaft for that of fmall craft, the fliipping and naviga- 
 tion between them and the Cape ought to be very con- 
 fiderable. 
 
 However extenfive the colony is, yet it cannot be con- 
 fidered at prefent in any other light than that of a propor- 
 tion ably large but weakly confumptive body, in which the 
 circulation of trade is very How and fluggifti ; as between 
 the more diftant members and the heart, or the internal 
 I provinces
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 263 
 
 provinces and the Cape, there is only once a year a circu- »775- 
 
 t . r ,. . , , September. 
 
 lation ot commodities, by means ot the ordinary waggons ; wv^O 
 but if this body, thus half ftifled as it were, had air given 
 to it, by opening all the harbours, trade, manufa6tures, 
 and agriculture would doubtlefs have new life infufed into 
 them. A farmer, for inltance, has a hundred hours - hard 
 driving to get his timber from Mojfel-bay to the Cape, and 
 a ftill longer and more laborious journey from Hoiitniqiias, 
 The feventy -or eighty rixdollars he can get for a load of 
 it, drawn by ten oxen, (including the felling of it and 
 bringing it in) hardly pay him for his time and trouble ; 
 but at the fame time his commodity comes to the towns- 
 men at the Gape dear enough at that price; as a fpar about 
 twenty feet in length and one in diameter, comes to five 
 rixdollars, and fo in j^roportion for boards and planks. 
 From hence it may eafily be imagined, that building is 
 extremely expenfive at the Gape; and that confequently 
 many people mufl fet themfelves down content without 
 thofe conveniencies of life, for which, however, the coun- 
 try has fufficient materials. The farmer muft, therefore, 
 neceifarily buy again, at fo much a dearer rate, his own 
 timber, wrought up into cafks, waggons, and other ne- 
 celTary articles of joinery work ; as he is obliged to carry 
 them all the way by land to and from the Cape, merely to 
 have the iron work put on them, fuppofing that in other 
 refpedls he is able, or has proper tools for making them at 
 home. The company itfelf, therefore, is likewife forced 
 to allot feveral public buildings at the Gape for flore-houfes, 
 
 * For an explanation of this word fee page 132. 
 
 and
 
 264 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '77?- and to have the greater part of their timber brought from 
 vL^vs^ Batavia^ and fome of it dire6lly from Europe ; in which 
 latter place, as is well knov/n, it mufl be paid for in fpecie ; 
 bv which means the nation fufFers a great lofs, inafmuch 
 as the colony adlually has v/ithin itfelf at Sitftcamma a thick 
 impervious foreft, from whence the beft kinds of trees, 
 many of them indeed very rare in Europe, ought to be, 
 and in fa6l might with eafe, and to the great advantage of 
 the company, be fetched for fale. By a navigation efta- 
 bliflied between the above-mentioned ports, not only would 
 the tranfportation of timber be facilitated, but like wife all 
 other articles produced in the country. The farmers, who, 
 for inftance, might put their corn and butter on board of 
 barges in Krakekamma-bay., would by that means avoid a 
 journey of four hundred uurs over land (including both 
 going and returning) v/hich generally takes them up feve- 
 ral weeks. Every peafant for fnch a journey as this has 
 two or three Hottentots, one to lead the oxen, and either 
 one or two to drive the fpare team; belides which, his wife 
 often goes with him, either for the purpofe of having her 
 •children baptized at the Cape, or elfe for fear of being at- 
 tacked by the Hottentots in her hufband's abfence. Thus, 
 taking it at the lowed, and reckoning only three perfons 
 and twenty oxen for thirty days, it ftands a great many 
 farmers in ninety days work of themfelves and men, and 
 fix hundred of their cattle, in order to make one turn with 
 their butter to market, and fo in proportion for fuch as 
 are lefs diflant. Hence it is evident, that many thoufand 
 days work are unnecefTarily loft and thrown away every 
 year in leading to the Cape, which, by means of the na- 
 
 vigation
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. .265 
 
 vigation I fpeak of, might be much more x^rofitably be- j^ptcnicr. 
 flowed on the orchards and the vineyards, the corn fields v.^^-^-/ 
 and the paflures. Induftry, trade, and wealth, would in 
 that cafe flow of themfelves, as it Vv'ere, into their now de- 
 fert harbours, ?xnd convert them into marts, and, perhaps, 
 flaple towns. 
 
 Flax is faid not to thrive well in this climate; but hemp, 
 which is cultivated both by the Hottentots and the coloniils 
 merely for the purpofe of replenifhing the pipes of the for- 
 mer with it inflead of tobacco, I have feen fucceed very 
 well, and in a vigorous flate; confequently, were there 
 any induftry in this part of the world, the people in the 
 country, as well as thofe in the town, might work it up 
 into flieeting, facking, fail-cloth, cordage, and other arti- 
 cles, to their own evident advantage and that of the com- 
 pany ; or, in one word, with a great faving to the whole 
 nation. 
 
 Manufadlories of everv kind miQ:ht likewiie be eilabliih- 
 ed at thefe harbours and other fuitable places : for inftance, 
 for the purpofe of working up the wool of the country, 
 (which is now quite thrown away,) at leaft into coarfe cloth 
 and {lockings ; thefe being at prefent bought at a very dear 
 rate by the company, for the ufe of its Haves and the gar- 
 rifon. 
 
 The towns-people, indeed, and farmers of the colony, 
 get the woollen goods they want at a rather cheaper rate 
 from the fliips belonging to foreigners ; but likewife by 
 that means, pay in a manner a heavier tax to the foreigner 
 than to the company; which, however, might get a funi 
 equal and even fuperior to this, if it bought up the wool 
 
 Vol. I. M m of
 
 266 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '77v of the country's produce on its own account, and, after ma- 
 
 September. • r ^ ^ r ro-i 
 
 Lx-vO nufadtunng it, fold the goods fo manufactured at a reaion- 
 able price. I did not find more than one farmer who knew 
 how to turn his wool to any account. This was a Ger- 
 man, who taught his wife and female flaves to fpin it, 
 and make tolerable good flockings of it. On the other 
 hand, I have {qqw many of the farmers, that lived at a 
 great diflance from the town, go without Itockings and out 
 at the elbov/s, though at the fame time they were in pof- 
 feffion of feveral hundred fheep. This proceeded as much 
 from the dearnefs of wool, as from their diftance from the 
 town ; and it is for the fame reafon, that the yeomen in 
 fome places here and there in Roggeveldy let their children 
 run about jull: like the Hottentots, with nothing but a 
 fheep-lkin hanging over their fhoulders, and without a rag 
 of linen on their backs. 
 
 For want of artizans and mechanics, many of the more 
 diilant farmers are obliged to make and mend their own 
 Ihoes and clothes, as well as they can, themfelves ; and 
 make Ihift with a few cracked vefTels of earthen-ware, 
 which they have been fo lucky as to bring all the way home 
 from the Cape, without farther damage, for the ufe of 
 their houfhold. 
 
 There is not a fliadow of doubt, but that the colony is 
 able to maintain all the artizans and manufacturers it has 
 occafion for. The trails of country neareft to the Cape 
 have, on account of the greater vent they have for their 
 commodities, not only been able to cultivate wine and corn 
 fufficient for their own ufe and that of the town, but like- 
 wife, in fuch quantities, as to fend a great deal to Europe 
 
 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 267 
 
 and the Ifle de France. In the fame proportion mieht the ^ '775- 
 
 X A o September 
 
 culture of the lands be increafed round about the harbours v^^-^ 
 above-mentioned, or other marts properly fituated for the 
 purpofe. Thoufands of plots of land, which, on account 
 of the long way it is from them to the Cape, are now left 
 in their original Itate, would by this means produce as 
 much corn and wine, as would be fufficient to exchange 
 with the wares of the artificers and trades -people in the 
 town. Befides this, the advantages arifing from the graz- 
 ing of cattle would rather increafe than diminidi, if the 
 llraw and pafturage were managed better for the advantage 
 of the cattle, than they are at prefent. 
 
 As, agreeable to the fcheme propofed above, many of the 
 journies now made to the Cape might be avoided, a great 
 many oxen might be difpenfed with, which are now kept 
 merely for this purpofe ; and in their flead milch cows 
 might be kept to increafe the quantity of milk, butter and 
 cheefe, in order to anfwer the confumptiou of an increafed 
 number of people. 
 
 With regard to the threfiiing of corn and manuring the 
 land, operations which at prefent are either ill-performed, 
 or elfe entirely negledled, there is much to be noticed, with 
 a view to prevent that deterioration of the arable land and 
 pafturage, which is obferved to take place in fuch f^^ots 
 as have been cultivated for any length of time. The plant- 
 ing of olive and mulberry-trees, together with the im- 
 portation and proper management of filk-worms, would 
 probably, likewife, be ufeful acquifitions to the colonies, 
 ferving to augment its population, as it would indubitably 
 be a peculiar advantage to the company to find the people, 
 
 M m 2 who
 
 268 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 c '"''V who bear the burden of all the taxes paid bv the colonies, 
 C^VN^ by means of thefe and other inftitutions, more flourilliing and 
 wealthy, and at the fame time exceedingly multiplied for 
 the defence of the country. By thefe methods the company 
 would in time be able, in fome meafure, to colle6t from 
 the Cape that force, both military and naval, which is fo 
 highly necelTary for the defence of its more opulent fettle- 
 men ts in the Eaft-Indies ; and which at prefent, in a man- 
 ner utterly dilgraceful to the Dutch Eaft-India company 
 and to human nature, is recruited by the mean low wiles 
 and artifices of cnmps and kidnappers in Holland, which 
 I Ihall expatiate upon hereafter. 
 
 Divers private perfons, againft whofe interefts it will 
 feem at firlf to militate, that the navigation from the bays 
 which I have juft been recommending, flioukl take place, 
 wdll, probably, iind many fpecious reafons to urge againft 
 it ; but thefe will be eafily overthrown by fuch as know 
 the nature of affairs in this country, and are patriotically 
 inclined towards the company. It is to be feared, indeed, 
 that many who have had the diredlion and government of 
 the colony, have either not underftood, or elfe have not 
 troubled their heads with any thing that did not refpecSt 
 their own emolument ; or elfe have thought that pru- 
 dence required, that the colonifls fhould be opprefTed and 
 kept in poverty, in order to prevent them from revolt- 
 ing. But it is necefTary only to know the colony a little 
 better than they do, in order to difcover, in the mofl 
 clear and evident manner, that their great forefight and 
 caution would, in this cafe, be carried too far. More- 
 over, the befl and foundcft principles of policy teach us, 
 
 that
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 269 
 
 that it is not their wealth and flrength, but an invidious September. 
 and oppreflive government, that can induce the colonics to V.^^vnJ 
 think of revolting, in hopes of a change for the better. Let 
 the members compoling a ftate be wealthy, and they will 
 make ufe of all their ftrength and power to maintain the 
 authority and confequence of a government on whicb their 
 own entirely depends. By confequence, the flrength and 
 power of colonifts is dangerous only for tyrants and ex- 
 ternal enemies ; while, on the other hand, their weak- 
 nefs peculiarly tends to the advantage of the latter. But 
 enough has been faid upon this fubje6l, and it is fit that 
 I fhould return to my account of Houtniquas land. 
 
 The animals to be found there are elephants, lions, ti- 
 gers, tiger-cats, wolves or hyaenas, black monkies, a kind 
 of badger, buffaloes, hart-beefts, bofch-boks, gnometies, 
 grys-boks, and hares. 
 
 The elephants are now, by being fhot at continually, in 
 a great meafure expelled from Houtniquas^ and have taken 
 refuge on the other fide of Keurebooms-rivier, in the 
 woody, and almofc entirely unexplored country of Sitjt- 
 kamma. 
 
 The lions are extirpated from Houtniquas, at leaft, they 
 now make no conftant abode there ; and thofe that now and 
 then go thither from Sitfikamma, ar from the other fide 
 of Lange Kloofs mountains, are foon difcovered and fliot. 
 
 The tigers^ or more properly leopards^ (for they leem ra- 
 ther to belong to that fpecies) are not fo eafily extirpated, 
 as their lurking-places in the forefls are hardly to be found. 
 In thefe parts, indeed, one feldom hears of their having 
 
 the
 
 27 o 
 
 A V CY AGE TO THE 
 
 ^775- the coura2:e to attack mankind ; thoueii one cannot reckon 
 
 September. o / o 
 
 v./'Y'O one's felf abfolutely fafe from their depredations. 
 
 Neither wolves nor black monkies are very common 
 here. I have ah'eady told the reader what I know con- 
 cerning thefe animals. 
 
 The fort of badge}' to which I allude, is called by the inha- 
 bitants berg-varken<i or mountain-pig. Thefe animals are 
 faid to be found likewife nearer the Gape, and have a long, 
 extremely harfli, and fomewhat blackifli coat. I was told, 
 that they are about a foot and a half high, and have their 
 holes and hiding-places underneath flones, and particu- 
 larly on the tops of mountains, from whence they never 
 peep out but of nights. I had not the good fortune to 
 fee any of them. This animal muft not be confounded 
 with the aard'Varken<f or earth-pig, w^hich, probably, 
 is a fpecies of mantis (the lezard ecailleux of Buffon,) 
 and which is faid to be found in coniiderable numbers in 
 the diftridl of Zwartland, 
 
 There have been, in all likelihood here, formerly hart- 
 beejlsy as Hartbeejl-drift, a fmall ftream in this part of the 
 country, has its name from thofe animals. 
 
 The bofch-bock (or wood-goat) Plate VI. Vol. II. is a fpecies 
 of antilope or gazel, which has been hitherto unknown to 
 all the cultivators of natural hiftory, whether ancient or 
 modern, till I defcribed it in the Memoirs of the Sw^edifh 
 Academy for the year 1780, quarter 3d, by the name of 
 antilope fylvatica. This animal has obtained the name it 
 goes by, in confequence of its being the only one among 
 the gazels in Africa, which may be properly faid to live 
 in the woods and groves ; excepting, however, Mr. Pen- 
 nant's
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 271 
 
 nanfs antilope royal \ unlefs, indeed, this little animal be , 1775- 
 
 ■^ -^ September. 
 
 the fame with the gnometie of the colonifts, or belong to v./^ynJ 
 the gazel genus. 
 
 Groot Fader-bofcb and Houtniquas-bofch^ were the only 
 forefls in which I faw and gave chace to the bofch-bok.- 
 In other places, w^hether nearer to or farther from the 
 Cape, it is hardly to be found, if not fome where in 
 Sitfikamma, It w-ould, perhaps, be not difagreeable to 
 zoologifts, to find in this place a defcription of this rare 
 fpecies of gazel '^ and though I had no opportunity to 
 make a drawing of it, otherwife than from a couple of 
 thefe creatures ik.ins, and from the obfervations I could 
 make on it while it was running by me ; yet I am apt to 
 believe, that it may be pretty well depended on, and that, 
 at leaft, it will be fufhcient to allifl the zoologifts in their 
 fyftematic refearches. 
 
 With refpedl: to its fize, the bofch-bok is fome what above 
 two feet and a half high. From feeing it run, and from, 
 what I can conclude from the lldns, it appears to me, that 
 the body of this animal, \^ hen compared with the w-hole 
 height of it, or w^ith the length of its legs, is fomewhat 
 more bulky than that of the other kinds of gazel. 
 
 The meafiire of the drefled fkin,. from w'hich both the 
 defcription and drawing are chiefly taken, w^as as follows : 
 The horns ten inches and a half long; their diftance from 
 each other at the bafe one inch; the diftance between the 
 tips as well as the middlemoft parts of them three inches 
 and a half; the ears were half the length of the horns, 
 or five inches ; the breadth of the forehead from eye to 
 eye three inches ; from the eyes to the horns one inch ; 
 
 from
 
 -7 2 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 , ^77v from the horns to the nofe fix inches an-d a half; from the 
 
 -September. 
 
 V-o-x^ horns to the rump four feet; from the top or the back to 
 the hoofs thirty-three inches ; from the bending of the 
 knees to the hoofs one foot ; the hoofs themfelves about 
 an inch. The dreffed Ikin of a fxtus^ of which I took 
 the meafure, was about two feet in length. A pair of 
 bofch-bok's horns, which I brought home with me, are 
 ten inches loner? and the bafe of each five inches wide. 
 But on the ikull of an animal of this fpecies, brought 
 home by ProfeiTor Thunberg, the horns were thirteen 
 inches long. From the dimenfions of thefe parts, a con- 
 clunon may be drawn with relpe6l to thofe of the remain- 
 der, as well as with refpedt to the fize of the animal in 
 eeneral. 
 
 This fpecies of gazel is monogamous, or keej^s in pail's. 
 The female is, according to all accounts, diftinguiflied from 
 the other fex in having no horns, in the loins being of a 
 lighter colour, and in not having in thefe parts the long 
 hairs, and efpecially the white ones, which we are about 
 to mention in the defcription of the male. 
 
 The horns of this are black, in fome meafure trian- 
 gular, and at the fame time wreathed, fo that both the 
 fides and angles have fomewhat of a fpiral turn. At bot- 
 tom they are rather rough, in confequence of a fet of 
 almoft innumerable wavy rings ; which, however, are not 
 elevated much above the furface. At top they are conical 
 and fiiarp-pointed, and in that part as fmooth as though 
 they had been poliflied. In a pair I brought with me, the 
 extreme points or tips are light-coloured and tranfparent. 
 As to the pofition of the horns, they are almoft in the 
 
 fame
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 273 
 
 fame line or horizontal plane with the forehead, inclininp; _ ^7^"^: 
 
 ^ ' o September, 
 
 a little forwards, and at the fame time, by means of the O-vn^ 
 twift they make, receding from each other towards the 
 middle, and making with this part a little bend backwards, 
 fo that the tips point fomewhat forwards. The three an- 
 gles or ridges, that feparate the three fides juft mentioned, 
 form a fpiral in the following manner : 
 
 The foremoil is very much rounded and cylindrical, be- 
 ginning inwards, and pioceeding more and more forwards, 
 till, coming lideways and a little outwards, it difappears in, 
 and is confounded with the fmooth conical tip. The fecond 
 is a little raifed, and moftly rounded off in the external part ; 
 but internally forms, as it were, a furrow, in conjundtion 
 with the foremofl. This latter angle or ridge, moreover, 
 goes off at firlt flrait forwards from the forehead ; and af- 
 terwards running lideways, outwards and backwards, at 
 length joins the above-mentioned conical tip dire6^1y at the 
 back part. The third angle has a lliarper edge, which, be- 
 ginning externally and at the back part, towards the middle 
 of the horn, runs backwards and inwards, and afterwards 
 terminates inwards and fomewhat forwards, in the fmooth 
 tip like the others. 
 
 The teeth of this animal are like thofe of other gazels. 
 It has no fore teeth or incifores except in the lower jaw, where 
 it has eight. Thefe are broader than the other teeth, be- 
 ing fmall at the roots, and broad and fquared off at the 
 top. Of the middle ones, which look towards each other, 
 the interior Udes are perpendicular ; but the exterior ones 
 oblique, and all the reft have a proportional inclination, 
 at the fame time decreafing in fize; fo that the outer- 
 moft, both to the right and the left, are the fmalleft. 
 
 Vo L. I. N n There
 
 274 
 
 A V OY A G E TO THE 
 
 ^ '775- There is no porus car if ems in this, as there is in other 
 
 September. x ^ 
 
 \.^y^>j gazels. The hairs on the head are very fliort and fine; 
 afterwards they become more rough and rugged, refem- 
 bling goats hair more than that of gazels or harts. For- 
 wards on the neck, bread, fides, and belly, they are an 
 inch and a half or two inches long. On the ridge of the 
 neck, and fo on all along that of the back, they are three 
 or four inches in length, fo as to form a kind of mane 
 there, terminating in a tail about a finger's breadth long. 
 On the hind part of the thighs and buttocks -likewife, the 
 hairs are eight inches long ; the legs and feet are flender, 
 and covered with fliort hairs; the fetlock-joints are fmall; 
 the nofe and under-lip are decorated with black whifl^ers 
 about an inch long. 
 
 The predominant colour in this animal is dark-brown, 
 which occupies the principal part of the fides, the back, 
 the upper part of the tail, the upper part of the cheft and 
 fore ribs, and the fore part of the belly. A fi:ill darker brown, 
 bordering upon black, is difcoverable on the outfide of 
 the flioulders, and fome part of the fore ribs. The fore part 
 of the nofe, from the eyes to the muzzle, is of a foot- 
 colour. The ears are likewife as black as foot on the out- 
 fide, but on the infide grey ; and both outw^ards and in- 
 wards, covered with hairs ftill fliortcr than thofe on the 
 head ; excepting half the fore part of the lower edge, 
 where the hairs are white and half an inch long. 
 
 The edges of the upper lip are white, as well as the 
 whole of the lowxr lip and mandible, behind which the 
 white colour terminates in a point towards the top of the 
 wind-pijx?. On each cheek- bone there are two large 
 
 round 
 
 i
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 275 
 
 round white fpots, one an inch beneath and behind the eve, , '775- 
 
 , ■' September. 
 
 the other an inch below and Ibmewhat forwarder than the <^/y^u 
 former. A ilill larger round white f}X)t, two inches broad, 
 is difcoverable on the fore j^art of the neck, fomewhat be- 
 low the top of the wind-pipe. Nine inches below this, 
 jull above the fore ribs, there is another white fpot, meafur- 
 ing fix inches acrofs, and an inch and a half in height. 
 This, in the fkin of the foetus I fpoke of, w'as fome- 
 what hollowed out, and thus refembied a new moon ; 
 but in this fkin, the upper round fpot, juft defcribed as 
 being on the fore part of the neck, was not to be feen. 
 The fur of this creature is, moreover, white between its 
 fore legs, and fomewhat on the fides of the fhoulders. 
 The fore legs, from the knees to the pafterns, are like- 
 wife white on the inlide ; and where it borders upon the 
 brown part, inclines to a dirty yellow. On the outfide of the 
 fore legs, near the knees, there is a long oval white fpot; 
 and on the fame fide, juft above the paftern -joint, there 
 is a little cinnamon-coloured fpot. 
 
 The hind legs, on the infide, from the pafterns to a lit- 
 tle way above the bending of the knees, are marked with 
 a white ftreak narrower than thofe on the fore legs. The 
 pafterns of the hind legs are fpotted with white on the " 
 fore parts, exa6lly like thofe of the fore legs. The back 
 part of the belly or the groin is white. Divers fmall 
 white fpots, from nine to twelve in all, are feen on each 
 of the haunches and on the ftdes near them. A narrow" 
 line of long white hairs extends from the neck all along the 
 back and tail, in the midft of the long brown hairs which I 
 have defcribed above. From the chine of the back to the 
 
 N n 2 fides
 
 276 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- fides ran five white parallel fi:reaks, which, though they 
 Cxv'w'^ are not difcoverable but by a clofe infpedlion, it was cer- 
 tainly proper to mention, in cafe fome individual Ihould 
 be met with, on which thefe marks might be more dif- 
 tin6t, and in confequence of which fome people might be 
 induced to take it for a diftin6l fpecies^ 
 
 It is generally faid, that goats are bad gardeners; and 
 this in a certain degree is true of this wood-goat^ or, as it is 
 called, bofch'bok. At Groot Vaders-bofch^ the people com- 
 plained much of the mifchief done by this creature in the 
 vineyards and kitchen -gardens there. It likewife fhewed 
 a great deal of craft and artifice in avoiding the fnares and 
 traps fet for it, as well as the ambufcades of the fportfmen. 
 I myfelf fat up a whole night in a vineyard on the watch 
 for this animal, without getting the leaft glimpfe of it ; 
 though it had, according to all appearance, paid us a vifit 
 incog, and made off undifcovered. 
 
 As the bofch-bok runs but flowly, it fometimes happens, 
 that he is caught with dogs. When he fees there is no 
 other refource, he puts himfelf in a pofture of defence ; 
 and when he is going to butt, kneels down. The colo- 
 nifts are not very fond of hunting him in this manner, as 
 the beaft, on this occafion, generally fells his life at a very 
 dear rate, by goring and killing fome of their beft and 
 moft fpirited hounds. 
 
 This creature's horns, which are its chief defence, fome- 
 times alfo prove its bane, by being entangled in the bufhes 
 and fmall branches of trees, which thus flop the beaft in 
 its flight. In fome meafure to avoid this, it carries its 
 nofe horizontally and ftrait forward while it runs; fo that 
 
 its
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 277 
 
 its horns lie, as it were, dire6llv on its neck : notwith- „ ^'^7S- 
 
 ^ September. 
 
 landing which, their horns are generally worn away a v^^vxj 
 little on the fore part, and thus acquire fome degree of 
 polifh. In fine, this fpecies of goat is fwifter in wood- 
 lands than the dogs, which likewife fooner lofe fcent of 
 him there. 
 
 The female, which is without horns, and on that ac- 
 count runs ahout in the forefts more free and unimpeded, 
 does not fuffer herfelf fo eafily to be hunted out of the 
 woods, having there, as well as on the plains, a more 
 certain defence againlf the dogs in her legs, than the male 
 has in his horns, efpecially as fhe is not fo bulky and 
 heavy as the male. Her breaft is faid to be very plump 
 and flefliy, but the flefli in general is not very tender; in 
 that point refembling that of the bunte-bok, or guib of 
 BuFFOX, Tom. XII. tab. 40. 
 
 By the wreathing of their horns, the form of their bodies 
 and white fpots, it fliould feem moreover, that there was 
 fome dillant aiEnity between thefe two forts of gazels ; but 
 by no means great enough, for them to be merely varieties 
 of the fame fpecies. Beiides the difference in their colour 
 and fpots, which is too remarkable for them to be conlider- 
 ed as one and the fame animal, (not to mention the length 
 of the hofch-bolCs horns in proportion to its body,) I have 
 never feen the bunte-boks live otherwife than in large herds 
 on the plains, and thefe were at leaft half as high again 
 as the bojcb-bok^ or of the fame fize with the hartbeejl. 
 
 The cry of this animal, as 1 have feveral times, efpe- 
 cially in the evenings, heard it in Houtniquas^ fomewhat 
 refembled the interrupted, fiiort, low, and rather hoaife 
 
 growling
 
 278 A VOYAGE TO THE! 
 
 ^77S- growling of a dog. Yet, as I was informed by leveral 
 K^^y^u people that the cries of the Gape tigers, or rather leopards, 
 pretty much refembled this, I am uncertain whether the 
 noife I heard always proceeded from the bofch-bok. With- 
 out doubt, it appears fomething extraordinary, that the 
 cries of the tiger and a gazel fliould be like each other ; 
 but, perhaps, the tiger may have the gift of being able to 
 imitate bofch-boks, in order to lead them affray ; juft as 
 the hyana has the power to imitate, for a limilar purpofe, 
 all kinds of animals. Nay, there is like wife fome refem- 
 blance between the cries of a lion and that of an ojlrich ; 
 though between thefe animals there is much lefs affinity : 
 and, indeed, there is no foundation for any conje6lures con- 
 cerning the caufe of this limilitude. 
 
 The gnometie, called alfo the erwetie, is a little animal 
 of the hart or gazel kind, of the iize of a hare, and is, 
 perhaps, the cervus Guineenfis of Linn^us, the antilope 
 royal of Pennant, and the chevrotain de Guinee of Buf- 
 FON. I have frequently perceived the traces and other 
 marks of this diminutive creature, but had not the good 
 fortune a6lually to fee more than one of them ; and that 
 only in a hafly manner, as it was bounding about in a 
 grove at Sitfica^nma, 
 
 Of hares there are at leaft two different forts in Hoiitni- 
 qiias, and in the other parts of Africa. The one is almoft 
 the fame with our common hare ; but of the other I find 
 it difficult to pronounce, whether it be abfolutely the fame 
 with the lepus Capenfis, Syjl, Nat, cauda longitudine capitis, 
 pedibus rubris, or not. The feet excepted, the charadle- 
 riftic marks are the fame ; for the feet and body of this 
 3 were
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 279 
 
 were of the fame colour as our common hares are in fum- „ '775- 
 
 September, 
 
 mer'-'S and the tail was almoft of an equal length with v^v>w^ 
 the hare, as mentioned in the Syjlema Natura, I found 
 it moreover broad at the bafe, and diminifliing by degrees, 
 fo as to terminate in a point. Underneath and on the lides, 
 the tail was as white as chalk, but above there was extended 
 along it a ftripe as black as a coal. This defcription I drew 
 up from a young leveret of this fpecies, which was brought 
 to the Cape alive, and was the only one that I have ever feen. 
 The huffalos (vide Plate II. Vol. II.) were of a fort en- 
 tirely different from all hitherto known by this name, 
 which is fufficiently manifeft from the defcription I have 
 already inferted in the Memoirs of the Swedifli Academy 
 for the year 1779. ^^ ^^ true, I had no opportunity in 
 Houtniquas^ either to fee or flioot any of them ; but I fre- 
 quently met with the frefli traces of them. Such danger- 
 ous neighbours made it rather unfafe to botanize here ; 
 for though the buffalos do not abfolutely go in fearch of 
 mankind or the brute creation on purpofe to do them mif- 
 chief, except they are previoufly irritated, neverthelefs, 
 their perverfe difpofition and great ftrength of body ren- 
 der them extremely dangerous, when one meets them in 
 the narrow paths, called buffalo-roads, where the wood on 
 each fide is frequently fo thick fet, as not to allow one to 
 make way either to right or left. In a journey that Dr. 
 Thunberg, fome years before, took into Hoiitniquas^ one 
 of his company had very imprudently tied two of his horfes 
 together, one behind the other, and drove them before 
 
 * In the colder climates of Europe, the common hare is white in winter. 
 
 him
 
 September. 
 
 280 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775- him on a narrow path. The owner of them had juft time 
 (and that was all) to favehimfelf, while a buffalo meeting them 
 gored the horfes to death, and trampled them into the duft. 
 But it will be more appofite to our purpofe, to give the 
 hiftory and defcription of this beaft farther on in the order 
 of the time, when I became better acquainted with it. I 
 likev/ife once faw a tiger-wood-cat and Tigrys-boky and fliall, 
 perhaps, fnid a better opportunity to make farther men- 
 tion of thefe alfo. 
 
 Of the feathered tribe I found in Hoiitniquas a new fpecies 
 of tantalus^ called by the colonifls bageda/Jj, and alfo hadelde. 
 This latter name has, in fome meafure, the fame found as 
 the bird's note ; the bird itfelf, which was faid to be con- 
 fined to this province, I have found like wife in great num- 
 bers about Zwart-kops-rivier, This fame bird is called by 
 the Hottentots 'ta ''kai ^kene^ a name which, if rightly pro- 
 nounced with three fmacks of the tongue againfl the roof 
 of the mouth, a ftranger will find more difficulty in uttering 
 than tlie bird's own language. It lives chiefly on bulbs 
 and roots, which with its crooked bill, it is faid to dig up 
 out of the plains with great eafe and readinefs. There it 
 is fliy and difficult to come at. In the evenings I always 
 faw them upon fome tree in the woods at rooft, and in 
 this fituation, one morning at fun-rife, I had the good 
 fortune to flioot one of them. 
 
 The bill of this bird was five inches long, black at the 
 tip and lower nib, at the upper nib red. The neck was of 
 an afli-colour ; the back the fame, and at the fame time had 
 a caft of green with a little yellow. The wings were dark 
 beneath, and above of a blue colour inclining to black ; the 
 
 lefler
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.- 281 
 
 leiTer coverts of a violet-colour. The tail, which was . ^^"^• 
 
 ' September. 
 
 wedge-fliaped, was about twice the length of the bill, and \^y^ 
 the body was foniev/hat larger than that of a hen. The 
 thighs were of an afli-colour. The feet and legs, as well 
 as the membrane between the claws, was blackillr ; in other 
 refpedls, this bird had all the characleriflic marks which be- 
 long to the tantalus. The coloniils afTured me, that it was 
 a fign of rain, when thefe birds afTembled in great flocks, 
 and flew againfl: the ^vind. 
 
 The ftate of the weather in Houtnlquas was faid to be as 
 follows. In March and April it rains here moll ; and^ 
 on the contrary, in the months of May, June, and July, 
 (which about the Cape and elfewhere are the winter 
 months, and are attended with copious rains) it is here quite 
 dry, though frequently rather cool and bleak. The north- 
 well wind at this time prevails here, as well as at the Cape ; 
 fometimes the wind veers about to the north, and brings 
 with it the warmth of fummer ; a change which frequent- 
 ly occalions the milch-cows in Houtniquas to grow fliff' in 
 the joints. I was aflured, that it never rained when this 
 north wind prevailed, probably on account of the chain 
 of mountains, which extends from eatl to weft, proving a 
 barrier to keep the clouds on the other fide; or elfe by vir- 
 tue of their attraction, detaining thefe condenfed vapours 
 on their fummits. I went through the wood directly a- 
 erofs it, with the intention of afcending the mountain, 
 whence I might have a view of Lange Kloof \ but found the 
 foot of the mountain every where fo thick over-run with 
 high and ftifl' perennial grafles and buflies, as to be abfo- 
 lutely impenetrable. 
 
 Vol, I. Go Hout-
 
 282 A VOYAGE to THE 
 
 1775- Houtniquas and Lange Kloofs however, communicate with 
 
 CJ^^ ' each other in one place, by means of a very bad road over 
 a mountain lower than the reft, near Trakudiku. I did 
 not go quite on to this place, but faw from Zwarte-rlvier 
 the fmoke of a chimney near 'Trakudiku^ and from the in- 
 formation I thus acquired, gave this river in fome meafure 
 its true lituation in my map. 
 
 The badnefs of the road, and the want of a proper guide, 
 together with the enfeebled ftate of my oxen, more parti- 
 cularly prevented me from going from this i:)lace to viiit 
 Algoa-bay^ which, however, I wiflied much to do. Be- 
 sides, we could not venture to quit our waggons and make 
 the trip to that bay alone on horfeback ; as almoft the 
 whole province was involved in riot and drunkennefs, by 
 means of a hogfliead of brandy that had been carried thi- 
 ther ; and my Hottentots, likewife, by the fame means, 
 had been thrown into a ftate of licentioufnefs and con- 
 fufion. There being no ftills in thofe parts, a peafant there 
 had wrote to the Cape for a quantity of the above-mention- 
 ed liquor, in order to turn a penny by retailing it out ; but 
 had in the mean while unfortunately drvmk it himfelf by 
 the wholefale, fo as to be night and day in the high eft de- 
 gree intoxicated with it : and, indeed, in his fury, would 
 have fliot my companion dead on the fpot, had I not been 
 luckily near at hand to prevent him. In another place, where 
 our landlord, in other refpe6ls a worthy man, and of a very 
 gentle difpofttion, had made a purchafe of fome of this fame 
 brandy, he tui ned his wdfe, with a child in arms, and feveral 
 other children fomewhat older, out of doors in the middle of 
 the night. The laws of hofpitality, and perhaps an apprehen- 
 
 fioa
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 283 
 
 iion of meetiiip- with feme rellftance, had, however, fo much ^ ^77$- 
 
 September. 
 
 weight with him, that my companion and I were left in \^/y^U 
 peace and quietnefs. In another place hereabouts, a pea- 
 fant had been balking in the fun and drinking, in com- 
 pany with a parcel of Hottentots, who, when he had got 
 his fill, was not only well flogged by this Pagan crew, but 
 was upbraided by them for having been ufed to ileep with 
 his houfekeeper, a Hottentot's widow, who was fuppofed 
 befides to be in another way nearly related to him. I my- 
 felf faw this man with a terrible wound on his head, of 
 which, however, he was alhamed to tell the caufe. I like- 
 wife had the pleafure of feeing his miftrefs, dizened out 
 with brafs and leathern rings on her arms and legs, and 
 with beads about her waift and neck. She was clad in the 
 ufual manner with a Iheep-lkin pellijfe^ and a well-greafed 
 raw leathern apron, was well befmeared with foot belldes 
 greafe, and could boaft of as broad and flat a nofe as any 
 Hottentot lady whatever. With all thefe perfe6tions, how- 
 ever, fhe feemed to me to be rather a cure for love, than 
 an incentive to that pailion : notwithflanding this, it is 
 not uncommon for the white people here (particularly men 
 who are more licentious in their manners than the other 
 fex) to be criminal in this point. That the Hottentot wo- 
 men are complying in this particular, does not only con- 
 tradi6l their general chara6ler of indifference in matters of 
 love, but alio that zeal, which I have attributed to them, 
 in the performance of their duties towards their own 
 nation. 
 
 Their diet, which, when they are in the fervice of the 
 Chriftians, is more plentiful and of a more jftrengthening 
 
 O o a quality J
 
 September. 
 
 284 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 177?. quality, and, perhaps, the incitement of the example of thefe 
 latter, may have its efFedl in making fome alteration in the 
 nature of thefe females. Add to this, that out of the fo- 
 ciety of their nation, they do not feel themfelves bovind to 
 obferve that rigid virtue and fimplicity of manners, which 
 they otherwife would, any more than the religion of 
 the Chriftians ; neither can it indeed be required, that fuch 
 a one fliould always be proof againft flattery, promifes, 
 prefents, and,, perhaps, the threats, which a mafter, of whom 
 i}.ie ftands in awe, may think fit to employ, in order to 
 fatisfy his unruly delires. The pledges of love, proceeding 
 from fuch a union, have hair almoft, if not quite, as woolly 
 and frizzled as the genuine Hottentots ; but their com- 
 plexion and features, partake more or lefs of both the 
 father and mother. They are likewife, as it appears to 
 me, more bulky and lully than the Hottentots are in gene- 
 ral ; tliey are better refpedled too, and at the fame time 
 more confided in, and more to be depended upon, but at 
 the fame time prouder and more conceited than the others. 
 Neither thefe, nor any other illegitimate children, are ever 
 baptized, or, indeed, enquired after by the Ghriflian mi- 
 nifters at the Gape, except in cafe that any one fliould pre- 
 fent himfelf as the father, and make a point of the child's 
 being baptized, and thus give the infant the right of in- 
 heritance. 
 
 •I faw two brothers in the vicinity of Hottentots Holland''^ 
 Bath, the ifllie of a Ghriflian man and of a baftard negrels 
 of the fecond or third generation. One of the fons, at this 
 time about thirty years of age, feemed not to be flighted in 
 
 the
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 285 
 
 the company of the Chriflian farmers, though, at that g^ ^einber. 
 time, he had not been baptized. The other, who was the %-/^^o 
 elder brother, in order to get married and fettled in life, 
 as he then was, had been obliged to nfe all his influence, 
 and probably even bribes, to get admitted into the pale of 
 the church by baptifm. For my part, I cannot compre- 
 hend the reafon why the divines of the reformed church 
 at the Cape are fo fparing of a facrament, which others, 
 particularly the Paj^ifls, have endeavoured to force, as it 
 were, upon the heathens with fire and fword, and all man- 
 ner of cruelties. The cloth does not, as far as I know, 
 receive any benefit from the chriftening of children at the 
 Cape, at leaft no particular benefit from the baptizing of 
 illegitimate children ; fuch condu6l, therefore, cannot fairly 
 be afcribed to any retrofpect to felf-interefi, nor indeed to 
 abfolute remifiiiefs and negle6l; a difpofition which would 
 but ill fuit with that fpirit of charity and univerfal bene- 
 volence, fo peculiarly enforced by the do6lrines of Chrifli- 
 anity. Farther, if the clergy at the Cape think by this 
 means to diminifh the number of unlawful connecftions 
 with the heathen women, they will find that this ftroke 
 of policy will not anfwer their purpofe : indeed, the letting 
 fuch numbers of infants born of Chriflian parents fuffer in 
 their fpiritual interefls, is a flrangely cruel method of pre- 
 venting fin. It is true, a great many of the whites have 
 ^ fo much pride, as to hinder, as far as lies in their power, 
 the blacks or their offspring from mixing with their blood : 
 but it appears to me, that Chriflian humility ought to operate 
 fo far with the clergy, as to prevent them from being 
 
 alliamed
 
 286 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^775- afliamed to fee their black fellow-creature walking cheek 
 
 September, . _ . , _ , . , 
 
 o^-Vi^ by jowl with them on the road to heaven. 
 
 This puts me in mind of an event, which I had before 
 feen mentioned fomewhere (and, if I remember right, in 
 the Hijioire Pbilofopbique Politique) as having happened not 
 a long while ago in Batavia. I enquired, therefore, con- 
 cerning the truth of it, of thofe that had lived at that place, 
 and found feveral agreeing in the following account. 
 
 " There was a citizen in Batavia^ who had often im- 
 portuned the miniflers of his church to baptize his illegi- 
 timate child, but had always found them inflexible. " Well 
 and good ! fays the man to them at laft, it feems as if you 
 alone wiflied to fliut the door of heaven, the keys of 
 which you imagine you have in your polTeffion : but the 
 Mahometan priefts of the Malays, are not fo churlifh and 
 niggardly of falvation as you are ; they having already pro- 
 raifed me to incorporate my fon this very day into their 
 church, and make him a true MufTulman : for fome kind 
 of religion I am determined my child fliall be of, as I hold 
 that, in a well-regulated fociety, no man ought to be without 
 a religion." TheChriflian priefts, however, no fooner faw that 
 preparations were made for circumcilion, than they haften- 
 ed, by adminiftering the facrament of baptifm, to deprive 
 the Mahometan church of a foul, which they had juft be- 
 fore reje6led as illegitimate. And fince that time, they are 
 faid to be lefs backward in opening the doors of heaven to 
 baftards." 
 
 Here follows another inftance of the depravity oftafte in the 
 white people in this colony, with regard to love matters. I 
 
 paid
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 287 
 
 paid a vifit to a European, who had fettled in Houtniquas. , ^775- 
 
 ■^ , ■*• September. 
 
 He was a good lively handlome fellow, about the middle \^^<y^^ 
 age, and, I believe, of good extradlion. He had ferved 
 under feveral different potentates in Europe, and had 
 fliewed them all a fair pair of heels. He gave me the 
 hiftory of a great many fmgular adventures of his, but the 
 mofl lingular of them all, in my opinion, I was eye-wit- 
 nefs to myfelf. This was, that he had married two years 
 before an ugly footy Mulatto, the daughter of a Negrefs. 
 She had been the miftrefs of another farmer who was 
 dead, and by whom fhe had a couple of baflards. Thefe 
 I faw at that time like wife in the houfe, grown up and un- 
 *baptized. But what feemed to me the moft lingular cir- 
 cumftance in the whole affair was, that this mulf have 
 been abfolutely a love-match ; for though he had got a 
 few cattle with his dingy fpoufe, yet the houfe, which he 
 likewife had with her, was certainly not a palace. It was, 
 in fa6l, a miferable cottage, though pleafantly enough 
 fituated in the fkirts of a forefl. The walls were made 
 of reeds tied together, and fupported by a few upright 
 chumps of wood, interfperfed with fome rough boards, 
 fuch as are generally ufed for fences. This ftrudture was 
 plaiflered over with a thin and ragged covering of clay. 
 There were but two rooms in it, and poverty feemed to 
 have taken full polTeflion of them both. In the inner 
 room, the man's wife lay ill of a putrid fever. The 
 outer apartment, which was the common bed-chamber for 
 all the reft of the family that were in health, I can bell 
 defcribe. It was fome what more than two yards in breadth, 
 4 and
 
 288 A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 '775' and about fix Ions;, with a peep-hole at one end of it, and 
 
 September. . , . , -, ■, r -t c r 
 
 K^,/^Y\j a fmall broken window at the other ; not to Ipeak or le- 
 veral other apertures, which occalioned a draught of air 
 that delivered my friend and me from all apprehen lions of 
 danger from the contagion of the putrid fever, but at the 
 fame time prevented us from keeping a candle alight for 
 any length of time. The rain, which had wetted us to 
 the fkin when out of doors, now followed us into the 
 houfe, dropping from the eaves ; a iign that the roof 
 could not boaft of any great fuperiority over the walls. 
 Our bed w^as on the damp loam-floor; a piece of fail-cloth, 
 the relicks of an old waggon- tilt, ferved us and our land- 
 lord himfelf both for bed and bed-clothes ; as for pillows, 
 there were none but what we brought with us, which con- 
 lifled merely of our drij^ping-wet faddles. We fliall now 
 drop the fubjedl of the amorous intercourfe of the white 
 people with the blacks, in order to give, in a few words, a 
 general idea of the houfes in Houtniquas^ that pofterity 
 may from hence be able to judge of the future increafe 
 of the colony. 
 
 There was only one wooden houfe on the borders of 
 this foreft, and this was long and fpacious, with but one 
 room in it, and built with logs cleft down the middle. 
 Another was like that jviit defcribed, compofed of fti'aw 
 and clay, but not quite fo tranfparent ; this belonged to a 
 young beginner. A third that we faw was likewife of 
 clay, but well-built, roomy, and neatly furniflied; being 
 the property of a clever, induftrious, well-behaved man, 
 Dirk Yves by name, who had likewife built himfelf a 
 
 mill.
 
 C A P E OF GO O D H O P E, 289 
 
 mill, and feveral other conveniencies. The reft were all nJ/JJc.. 
 
 ' beptenncer. 
 
 of clay or mud, and were partitioned out into two rooms, v-^'vO 
 in the fume manner as I have in general defcribed the co- 
 lonifts houfes at the beginning of this journaL 
 
 It was faid to be at that time, not above twenty years 
 fince Houtftiquas was firft known, and twelve years lince 
 it began to be inhabited by the colonifts, who did not re- 
 pair thither in any confiderable numbers till of late years. 
 
 I mentioned, that the confufion and difturbance occa- 
 fioned by the introduction of the hogfliead of brandy, had 
 reached even to my Hottentots; and that on this account 
 I was obliged, much againft my will in other refpedts, to 
 make hafte with them from thefe parts. My companion 
 had been imprudent enough, at their earn ell: requeft, to 
 indulge them with a fup or two of this precious liquor ; 
 the confequence of which was, that they became furious, 
 and broke out into the moft abufive language, becaufe 
 they could not have any more of it. At length, we were 
 forced to try what blovv s would operate upon them ; which 
 had this effedl, that the next night, by way of revenge, 
 they took to their heels and ran away. We, on our parts, 
 rode to one of the two Hottentot craals that were at the 
 hither end of Houtniquas^ in order to fearch for them. 
 In tlie firft they were not to be found, neither did the peo- 
 ple chufe to give us any explicit information concerning 
 them ; but when we came to the other, and began to climb 
 over the fence, or the place where they kept their cattle, 
 they -let all their dogs out at once upon us. We diredly 
 put ourfelves in a pofture of defence, as if we were going 
 
 Vol. I. P p to
 
 ^go A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^ '775- to flioot both the does and their mafters. This occafioned 
 
 September. '^ 
 
 ^y'Y-O the Hottentots to call their dogs oft, which obeyed imme- 
 diately. We then went into their houfes without delay or 
 moleftation, fome of which were built of flraw in a fquare 
 form, with flielving roofs, like the cottages of the flaves. 
 In one of thefe cottages, on a little bench, we found our 
 Hottentots faft afleep. We contented ourfelves with gent- 
 ly reproaching them on the fcore of their mifcondu6l; 
 but at the fame time, with an air of authority, command- 
 ed them to return to their duty. They, on their lide, 
 without anfwering us or offering to gainfay us in the lealf, 
 followed us as quietly as if they had been our prifoners. 
 They took leave of their countrymen and countrywomen 
 by Ihaking hands with each other, in the Dutch fafliion, 
 though without bowing ; at the fame time with great cor- 
 diality, and a deal of talk on both fides. The women 
 feemed as if they wanted to keep them, and I do not 
 doubt but that the fellows would have been eafily prevail- 
 ed on, if our guns had been out of the way. Indeed, 
 with refpedl to my Hottentots, I was as much afraid of 
 the temptations of the women as of the intoxicating quali- 
 ty of the brandy; and therefore made fo much the more 
 hafte to get away from this place, which otherwife might 
 for many years have afforded employment to the attentive 
 refearches and obfervations of a botanift. 
 
 Our departure took place in the beginning of October; 
 but before I go on any farther with my journal, I will 
 fet down the flate of the weather for the month of Sep- 
 tember jufl elapfed. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. ^9^ 
 
 The rainy days were the 8th, 9th, i6th, 20th, 21ft, September. 
 24th, 25th, 29th; andthelaftof thefedays was remarkable ^>^r^ 
 for fouth-eaft winds and rain. The thermometer was for 
 the moft part early in the morning between 49 and 50, 
 in the middle of the day between 76 and 80, and in the 
 evenino; at fun-fet between 50 and 60. 
 
 P p 2^ 
 
 € n A p.
 
 292 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Journey through Langc Dal. 
 
 aPh C\ '^ ^^^ 9^^ ^^y ^^ 06lober we departed from Houtniquas, 
 \^y>U V_y returning over the great and little Brak rivers to 
 Geelbek-rivier^ from w^hence to Hagel-craal and Artaquas^ 
 kloof., whither we went the next day : there were two 
 roads. The one, which was better cleared and more 
 beaten, though farther to the weft of the laft-mentioned 
 river, we fent our waggon by; and took the other road, 
 though it was hilly, ourfelves, being advifed fo to do, as 
 it was a nearer way on horfeback. By a trifling neglecfl, 
 one often lofes a great deal ; and we, by loitering a little 
 on the road, were difappointed of our night's lodging, be- 
 ing overtaken by the darknefs and rain ; fo that, although 
 v/e were near the farm whither we were going, and heard 
 the barking of their dogs, and the crowing of their cocks, 
 we were not able to hit upon the fpot. After many fruit- 
 lefs attempts, and getting into the roads that led to the 
 paftures, and other by-ways that took us into thickets, and 
 directly againft the fteep parts of mountains, we at laft 
 thought we had hit upon the right road, when we found 
 in our way a river deeper than any we had hitherto, in 
 
 our
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 293 
 
 our bewildered fituation, ventured to crofs. It is true, we oaober. 
 were not afraid of being foufed a little by going through v-^v^^ 
 the water, as the rain had made us almofl as wet as we 
 w^ell could be ; but neither of us chofe to be the firft to 
 venture over, for fear of there being fome hole or oozy 
 part in our way. I therefore drove before us over the 
 river, on the forlorn hope, as it were, an old horfe that I 
 led in hand along with me. No fooner had he got over 
 than he fet off full gallop, and freed himfelf in an in- 
 flant from the confinement in which we had kept him the 
 whole day ; while we, wet, cold, and hungry (having eaten 
 nothing all day long but a flight breakfaft) were obliged, 
 after feveral more unfuccefsful attempts, to pafs the night 
 in the open air, expofed to the wind and rain. That we 
 might not fo eafily be attacked unawares by tigers, we got 
 away from the river and vale, which was full of bufhes, on 
 to the mountain, and there took the faddles off our horfes 
 near a bufli that flood quite feparate and alone. Hard- 
 by was a precipice, which we fortunately perceived time 
 enough to be able to be upon our guard againfl it. Having 
 tied our horfes halters round their fore legs, a method very 
 common in Africa, we then let them feed on the other 
 fide, with a view, that if any lion fliould come upon us, 
 he might firil find employment vvith them ; and at the 
 fame time, that if a wolf fliould make its appearance, the 
 horfes fliould not run off. The realbn of this precaution 
 will appear by referring to page 160. 
 
 In the night, when we felt ourfelves almofl fliff with 
 cold, we wandered up and down, and frequently fell down 
 on the top of the mountain, which was greafy and flip- 
 
 pery,
 
 '294 ^ VOYAGE TO the 
 
 oft'^be P^^y> ^^ confequence of the rain. With regard to o\ir 
 Vh^nrv; Situation in other refpe6ts, it was difficult to fay, whether 
 it gave us more comfort or vexation to hear, as we fre- 
 quently did, the farmer's cocks crow. As foon as ever 
 the day hegan to dawn, at about five o'clock, we faddled 
 our horfes without delay, and eafily found our way to 
 the farm called Hagel-craal^, which was only at the dif^ 
 tance of a few gun-fliots from us. Dirk Marcus, the 
 mafter of it, a hearty old fellow, as foon as we accofted 
 him, began to praife us highly for induflrious young men 
 who were up before him ; but afterwards, when he was 
 made acquainted with the difficulties we had undergone, 
 he heartily pitied us, though he could not help at the 
 fame time ferioufly chiding us for not being accuflomed 
 to fmoke ; as in that cafe we might, at a juncture when 
 it was mofl wanted, have had about us the means of 
 making a fire, as well as of appeafing our hunger, and 
 paffing away the tedious hours with a pipe. After this, 
 he gave us an account of a great many adventures he had 
 . met with in his excurfions into the interior part of the 
 country, where he had acquired a tolerable competency by 
 Ihooting elephants. The information and advice he gave 
 lis were both ufeful and agreeable. 
 
 This worthy man fent his people after the led horfe, 
 \vhich I mentioned as having run away from me ; and 
 when we took our departure, which was on the 13th, at 
 ten o'clock in the morning, he lent us feveral ftout 
 oxen to help to draw our waggon over the very hilly 
 dale called Art aquas-kloof. At Hyi we arrived at Faarde- 
 . craalj a fmall river fo called, where we refted till the next 
 
 morning,,
 
 C A P E OF GO O D H O P E. 295 
 
 morning, or the 14th. By noon we reached Zaffraan- oaober 
 craaly at wliich place the long and tirefome vale of Artaquas V.^'rv^ 
 ends. Here, according to previous agreement, we turned the 
 oxen we had borrowed loofe, which went home of them- 
 felves the fame way we had brought them. The vale juft 
 mentioned, is reckoned among the diftridis which are cold 
 and four in the higheft degree, and at the fame time is 
 confidered as unfit to be inhabited. Here there is faid to 
 grow a herb, called by the colonifts p — grafs, and which, 
 as far as one may truft to their defcription of it, is, proba- 
 bly, a fpecies of euphorbia. This is faid to be frequently 
 eaten by young cattle brought from other countries, which 
 thereby get a dyfury, or lloppage of urine, that often 
 proves mortal. In the urine as well as the urethra of thefe 
 'animals, a fubflance refembling little lumps of cheefe has 
 been obferved. The only means by which they have 
 fometimes been fo fortunate as to fave the life of an ani- 
 mal attacked with this difeafe, has been by hunting and 
 driving it about for fome time without intermiflion, in or- 
 der to attenuate, concodl, and expel the coagulated matter. 
 
 In time of war or inteftine commotion, a pals fo nar- 
 row as Arluquas-klwf^ muft neceflarily be of great import- 
 ance, as a key to the whole tra6l of country lying to the 
 eaftward. In Lange-klooj\ likewife, and Krom^?ie-nviery 
 many impediments might be laid in the way of an army 
 that was marching that way. The tradl of land round 
 about Zaffraan^craal flrait on to Lange-kiooJ] is of the kind 
 I have defcribed above under the denomination of Carrozv* 
 
 In the houfe at Zaf'raan-cra-al we fuffered an inconve- 
 nience, which is faid to be very common in the Car rows, 
 S This
 
 296 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »77v This was the common houfe-fly in fuch prodigious qiian- 
 
 Oiiober. . .... 
 
 v.xv'i^ tities, as almoft entirely to cover the walls and ceilmg. 
 In fad, they did not ceafe for a moment to moleft us, by 
 fwarming and buzzing about in our eyes, ears, nofes, and 
 mouths, fo that it was not poflible for us to keep in the 
 houfe for any time together : notwithflanding which, an old 
 flave, who at that time lived there quite alone, was obliged 
 to lleep in the midft of this nefh of flies every night. In 
 other trads of this country molelled by flies, I faw thefe 
 troublefome infedls taken very dexteroully in the follow- 
 ing manner. All over the ceiling are hung up bunches 
 of herbs, on which the flies are fond of fettling; a per- 
 fon then takes a linen net or bag of fome depth fixed to 
 a long handle, and putting it round every bunch, fliakes 
 it about, fo that the flies fall down to the bottom of the 
 ba^ ; where, after feveral applications of it in this man- 
 ner, they are killed by the pint or quart at a time, by 
 dipping the bag into fcalding-hot v/ater. In certain parts 
 of the Carrow^ where the flies abound mofl, it is faid, 
 that there is a bufli which exfudes a humour fomewhat of 
 the nature and confiftence of tar. This, by its adhefive 
 quality, detains the flies, which are very fond of fettling 
 on the plant, and by this means deftroys them. There is 
 another flirub frequently found in the Garrowy which 
 grows here likewife, and is called Canna-bofch ; whence the 
 whole tradl of country hereabouts bears the name of Can^ 
 ncCs^ and not Canaan*^ Land^ as Mr. Mason has called it 
 in the Philofophical 'franfa&ions. In facft, from the ex- 
 treme drought that prevails here, inftead of the Land of 
 Promife^ Mr, Mason would have done better to have called 
 
 it
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. ^97 
 
 it the Land of Affliciion. A road between Art aquas and J^;^er. 
 Lange-kioof, inclining more to the fouthward than that by v-^^v^*^ 
 which we went, paffes over a high and fteep mountain, 
 which, from the circumftance above-mentioned, is called 
 Carina' s-hoogte<i or Canna's-heights. 
 
 Having examined this fame Canna-flirub I found, that 
 in ilridt propriety, it formed a new fpecies oi falfola\ for 
 which reafon, in my manufcript defcriptions of plants, 1 
 have called it Salfola caffra^ foliis minutis fubrotundisy car- 
 fioftSy concavis, imbricatis. The leaves have a bitter fait 
 talte, and burned together with the whole flirub, produce 
 very flrong aflies, excellently well adapted for the purpofe 
 of making foap ; for which reafon, particular attention is 
 paid by the Carrow farmers to the culture of this plant. 
 In the parts of the flower, the Canna-fhrub fo far differs 
 from the generical charadler of the falfola in the lixth edi- 
 tion of the Genera PIantaru7n^ inafmuch as this fpecies 
 has a little obfolete Jiyle, with two or three brown Jligjnas, 
 The remaining parts of its chara6ler were, Stam, fil, bre- 
 vi£\ Antherce cm'data^ Calyx perianth, perjijlens^ Capfula 5 
 valvisy I locularis, and Semen i cochleaium^ as in the fal- 
 fola^ or rather refembling a watch-fpring coiled up. 
 
 It was curious to fee how the only flave that was then 
 at Zaffraan-craal, and who had the abfolute management 
 of the farm, how fkilfully, I fay, with the aflitfance of 
 two Hottentots who dwelt not far from the place, he had 
 l)rought the water in rills and channels down to the fields 
 of wheat (of which the ears at that time were peeping 
 forth,) as well as to the garden ; and had made dams at 
 thefe places, fo that they might be overflowed and water- 
 
 VOL. L Q q €d,
 
 i^S A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 '7^r ed whenever it was requifite, by which means they ap- 
 vJ-rO peared dad wdth a delightful verdure. In every other 
 part the earth w^as as much parched up, and as dry as the 
 high road ; on which account, having fet out upon our 
 journey at night, for the fake of taking the benefit of 
 the coolnefs of the air, we were foon obliged to turn 
 back and flay till morning, as we w^ere not able to dif- 
 tinguifh the road from the other parts of the fields and 
 commons. 
 
 The next morning we continued our route, and after 
 pafling over Morafs-rivier^ came to Canna-riwcr^ by others 
 called Kkindorn-riviery where we baited. All the verdure 
 bur oxen and horfes could find here confifled only in a 
 fmall quantity of a reed {arundo phragmites) ftill left in • 
 the above-mentioned river, the greater part of it having 
 been previoufly confumed by the cattle belonging to for- 
 mer travellers. It happened, however, that we ftaid longer 
 than we ought to have done in a place that was eaten fo 
 bare, in order to regale ourfelves wath a meal of our ow^n 
 cooking, compofed of a kind of a partridge that I had jufl 
 fliot, as for the laft three days we had had nothing to fatisfy 
 the cravings of our appetites but our Hottentot's coarfe 
 ammunition-bread and a little tea. It fell to my lot to 
 pluck the bird, and Mr. Immelman undertook to drefs it; 
 and, indeed, he fhewed himfelf a perfect mafler in the 
 art, flewing it in a quantum fufficit of water, and a little 
 fieep'S'tall fat, which our Hottentots had got at Zaffraan- 
 craal for their own eating; fo that it w^ould be no eafy 
 matter to defcribe the highly agreeable fenfations convey- 
 ed by this delicate difli to the organs both of tafte and fmell. 
 
 But,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 29(1 
 
 But, as ill-luck would have it, we had neither of us re- oao^beV 
 membered to draw the fowl, till in order to divide it equal- v^^^-vW 
 ly between us, we cut it in two; when the fauce, which 
 we juft before had found delicious in the highefl degree, 
 became quite naufeous. The Hottentots laughed heartily 
 at our omiflion, and flill more at our delicacy, and at the 
 fame time licked it up every drop. 
 
 The delay occafioned by this meal caufed us to be over- 
 taken by darknefs, before we could reach the next farm ; 
 (inconfequence of which, we got into a labyrinth of buflies 
 and briars for want of being able to fee the road. We 
 were therefore obliged to flop, and prepare to fufFer hun- 
 ger and thirfl, together with our beafts, till the next morn- 
 ing, and be almoft frozen to death into the bargain ; for 
 though it had been reeking hot the preceding day, the 
 night was neverthelefs extremely cold. About midnight^ 
 however, the moon fhone, and enabled us once more to 
 iind the road, when we foon came to a farm near Kleine 
 Dorn-rlvier^ called Zandplaat, 
 
 It' was not without the greateft aflonifliment, that we 
 beheld the next morning the coniiderable number and un- 
 paralleled fatnefs of the fheep here, when we compared them 
 with the horrid drought and aridity of the land. In this part 
 - of the country, when they are going to kill a ilieep, they 
 always look out for the leaneft in the whole flock, as the 
 refl are intolerably fat. The tail alone of one of thefc 
 fheep (which is thick and of a triangular fliapc, being 
 from a foot to a foot and a half in length, and fometimes 
 above fix inches thick near the rump) will weigh from 
 eight to twelve pounds ; and moflly confifls of a delicate 
 
 Q q a kind
 
 3*00 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^77'^- kind of fat, which by fome people is eaten with breacl in- 
 V^yO ftead of butter, and is ufed for dre fling vi6luals with, and 
 fometimes even for making candles. 
 
 Here, as being produced in the Cart'ow and in a warm 
 diftricft, the wine is faid to be good ; but I can form no 
 judgment of it myfelf, as the farmer had already fold or 
 confumed all he had made. On the other hand, in Lange 
 Kloofs as being a four diltridt, not a drop of wine can be 
 made. 
 
 Some Hottentot wives had got their huts built near this 
 farm ; and a Hottentot lad, who was, in fa6l, in the fer- 
 vice of the farmer, had at that time lain for feveral days 
 in their quarters, afflicted with a bad diforder, which feem- 
 ed to have a great affinity with the putrid fever epidemic 
 here, and confequently would not bear bleeding. I was 
 forced, however, to undertake this operation, in order to 
 refcue the lad from the clutches of his mafter, who had 
 an unlimited confidence in venefe6lion, and had already 
 whetted his knife on purpofe to perform it. The patient, 
 who either could not or elfe would not give any account 
 - of the Hate in which he found himfelf, had, previous to 
 the operation, a fmall pulfe ; and during it was taken with 
 a univerfal tremor, upon which, after his arm was bound 
 up again, fupervened convulfive twitchings. So that, in 
 fa6t, we left our patient in a much weaker condition than 
 we found him in, though I had been very fparing in taking 
 blood from him. My hoft, neverthelefs, was very well 
 fatisfied, and would not be perfuaded but that the tremor 
 was going off; at the fame time he bade his wife give me 
 for my trouble the beft of every thing they had in the 
 
 houfe.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 301 
 
 haufe. In the fpace of about half an hour, however, they q'^ttsj^^ 
 came and told us, that the poor lad was at the point of V^^vO 
 death. I cannot deny, but that I reproached myfelf in- 
 ternally, with having been in a manner the inflrument of 
 his tleath ; I did not however omit, in order as it were to 
 difburthen my coiiitience, to reproach my hoft bitterly, 
 as having been the pri icipal caufe of fending the foul of a 
 Hottentot into eteniity. But the good man feemed fo much 
 troubled, and took it fo to heart, that I was adtually going. 
 to comfort him, when he at lafl broke filence with a deep 
 iigh, and.anfwered me with fome warmth, faying, The 
 devil a bit did he care for the Hottentot or his foul either, 
 fo that he could but get another ox-leader in his Head, 
 as he mufl foon drive to the Gape to difpofe of his butter. 
 
 In the mean time we went to fee the ceremonies prac- 
 tifed with the corpfe. In fadt, they confilt in this ; the 
 Hottentots Ihake, jolt, pummel and cuff their dying coun- 
 trymen, as well as fuch as are juft dead ; at the fame time 
 flirieking and hollowing in their ears, antl calling a world 
 of reproaches on them for dying. Neither do they for- 
 get belides to endeavour, by fair words and promifes^ 
 to perfuade them not to leave this world ; as if it depended 
 on a man in the agonies of death, to die or not, juft as he 
 pleafed. I now faw this ceremony performed to a hair on the 
 youth I had let blood, by two Hottentot old women. Indeed,, 
 I was afraid, that by their perfeverance in this pious work, 
 they would quite fuffocate the fmall fpark of life which,- 
 at leaft juft after our arrival, was perceived in him ; but, 
 on the contrary, the patient came a little to himfelf, fo 
 that it appeared, as if by their Ihaking and jolting, they 
 
 had.
 
 302 
 
 A VOYAGE TO ^<HE 
 
 '77?- had put the languid circulation, and confequently the vital 
 U^^yO powers into proper motion again. My hoft and I, how- 
 ever, on our fides, did not negledt to get fome brandy; as 
 foon as poiiible, in order to moiften his lips and n^ofe with 
 it. I .afterwards heard here, on my return from my .tQur,r 
 That this fwoon came on the youth in confequence of- their 
 having let him run out of the houfe during the frenzy 
 produced by the fever ; as likewife, that low and fatigued 
 as he was at that time, yet in the fpace of ten ox :%\V€l}^ 
 days he-had^rown quite flout and hearty, infomueh, fhat 
 he 'had run away from his mailer during the journey to 
 the Cape, in which I mentioned that my holl intended to 
 make ufe ^f him as ox-leader. 
 
 There was an oUer extremely well fluffed, which I no]w 
 keep in the cabinet of curiolities belonging to the Academy 
 of Sciences, but which being a rarity in thofe parts, my 
 landlord intended as a prefent for the governor, and had 
 kept it hid up in a private place for that purpofe : he now, 
 however, gave it to me by way of recompence for bleed- 
 ing the lad, fo thankful was the fimple boor, and fo much 
 charmed wdth this operation. This otter feemed to be of 
 the fame fpecies with our European otter, and to differ 
 from it only in lize, and in being of a lighter colour. The 
 length of the body, meafuring from the nofe to the root 
 of the tail, is two feet and a half, and the whole length 
 of the tail rather more than eighteen inches. This animal, 
 in all probability, lives chiefly on a kind of round crabfifh 
 .and frogs ; as in the frefli water of all the African rivers, 
 that I have laid, down in my map, two forts of fifh only, 
 that I know^ of, are to be found, (and thefe too in a very 
 6 trifling
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 30^- 
 
 trifling quantity) viz. a very fmall kind of gilt-head^ the ^Hl'^^ 
 fpecies of which I have forgot to defcribe, and the cyprinus ^<y^^>>J 
 gonorynchus^ about the fize of an ordinary herring. 
 
 On the 17th we went from the arid Carrow diftridi into 
 Lange Kloofs (or the long dale) which commences at Brak- 
 rivier. By way of reinforcing my team, I was obliged to 
 buy another pair of oxen here, at eight rixdollars a head. The 
 farmer's wife, who feemed to be the chief manager here, 
 warranted them to be without fault or blemifli. As one 
 of them, however, when we drove from hence, was foon 
 found to be rather lame in one of the hind legs, we began 
 to harbour fome fufpicions of the fair vender's honefty. 
 Her neighbours at leaft affured us, that with refpedt to the 
 dependence that was to be placed on her word, the ox 
 might have been lame of all four legs, without our having 
 any reafon to blame any thing but our own credulity. We 
 were likewife over-reached with regard to a horfe that we 
 left here, by this fame hoflefs of ours and her hufband. 
 Shortly after this they removed to the Cape, with a view 
 to go into the commercial line there. They were never- 
 thelefs at this time, hofpitable to the fullefl extent of the 
 word ; at the fame time, eating themfelves with an appe- 
 tite that aftoniihed us. As hofpitality is commonly prac- 
 tifed, and, indeed, is a leading feature in the charadler of 
 the country people here, ^o it appears to me from feveral 
 circumftances, that deceit in their dealings is likewife very 
 prevalent in the colony ; and by no means conlidered in fo 
 low and defpicable a light, as it is with us, or as it really 
 deferves to be. 
 
 In
 
 04 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 J 77 5- III the neighbourhood of Brak-rivkr* as well as in other 
 
 ^x^-v-> places in Larige Kloofs they made great complaints concern- 
 ing the p — grafs mentioned above, as growing in Arta- 
 quas Kloof \ though nobody could, with any degree of cer- 
 tainty, j^oint out any particular herb as coming under that 
 denomination. 
 
 In this part of the country I was confulted by a mar- 
 ried woman, who, through ignorance, as well as impa- 
 tience, had pulled away piece-meal her uterus, which was 
 in a prolapfed Hate, without any bad confequences enfuing. 
 Near the fource of Keurebooms-rivier there was a farm, 
 from which, by a troublefome foot-path, one might go in 
 a day to Algoa-bay in Houtniquas. Pott-rivier is likewife 
 called Cbaj7iika, a name, which, as there was no room for 
 it in the map, I thought it was proper to mention here 
 for the fake of future travellers. As Mr. Immelman and 
 I being on horfeback, had rode to a good diflance before 
 th« waggon, we loft our way, it being then very dark ; 
 we had the good luck, however, at length, to come up to 
 a farm, not far from the laft-mentioned river. We found 
 the farm inhabited only by fome Hottentots, who were left 
 there by a colonift in order to look after it. They were 
 fo crofs-grained, as not to anfwer either in Dutch or Por- 
 tuguefe Mr. Immelman's enquiries about the road, al- 
 though he promifed to give them fomething to drink, and 
 though, as we were afterwards affured, they perfe6lly un- 
 derftood both thefe languages ; but, to make amends, they 
 jabbered a great deal to us in their own, of which, how- 
 ever, we could not comprehend a fy liable. I do not know 
 
 whether
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 305 
 
 whether this behaviour proceeded from a wicked difpofi- Q^^yj^ 
 tion, the foundation of which is to be fought for in the ge- \^yy\J 
 neral depravity, as it is called, of human nature ; or whe- 
 ther it might not rather be confidered, as a well-founded 
 grudge harboured in the breafts of thefe people againft the 
 Chriftian colonifls. We fince heard of many inftances, in. 
 which the fame thing had happened elfewhere to other 
 Chriilians, who, by way of putting a trick on thefe poor 
 fellows, pretended to be ignorant of the Hottentot language; 
 and by this means heard unfufpe6led the anfwers of the 
 Hottentots, conlifling in mere impertinence and fcoffing 
 jefts, which they threw out againfl the Chriftans with the 
 higheft glee, and, as they thought, with impunity, till the 
 latter pulled off the maik: in order to avenge themfelves. 
 
 As we could get no information from thefe Hottentots, 
 we endeavoured to find the way again ourfelves, as well as 
 we could : but juft as I imagined I had hit upon it, and as 
 I was riding acrofs the river juft mentioned, my horfe fank 
 all at once in the ooze quite up to the faddle. I imme- 
 diately threw myfelf off on the bank ; but we found it a 
 difficult matter to drag my horfe out of this quagmire ; and 
 afterwards were obliged, together with our waggon, that 
 came up afterwards, to wait for the dawn of the following 
 day (the 2 2d) before we could find the right fording- 
 place, when vre proceeded to the river Kukoi^t or, as it is 
 pronounced, fKu-fkoi, 
 
 This name, which lignifies head or mafter, has proba- 
 bly been beftowed upon this river, as being the firft branch, 
 or rather the fource of the great river of fCam-VNaJly 
 which again runs into that of tCamtour, The farm at 
 
 Vol. I. R r Kukoi
 
 306 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 r^'i^'J* Kukoi river is called Avanture, From the mountains there* 
 
 Uctober. 
 
 L*^Y"v^ abouts we faw the fea, without being able to get the leaft 
 glimpfe of the forefts of Houtniquas^ on account of other 
 mountains fituated between. Neither had any one tried 
 to go down from hence into Houtniquas. 
 
 We flaid in Lange Kloof till the 31ft, or lafl day of this 
 month inclufively. 
 
 At Apies-rivier I faw an old Bojhies-man with his wife, 
 who, I was informed by farmer P. Verejra-i had, a few 
 months before, reigned over above a hundred Bofhies- 
 men ; but they were now tranflated by the farmer from 
 that princely, or rather patriarchal dignity, to that of being 
 fhepherds to a few hundreds of fheep. With regard to 
 other matters, he gave them the highefl commendations, 
 as being quite different from the Hottentots in general, 
 alert and exadt in their bulinefs, and likewife as being well 
 contented with their lot, and fuiting their inclinations to 
 their fortunes. It is pollible, indeed, that this ancient 
 couple, in confequence of their good fenfe and experience, 
 might a6lually find a greater and more fubftantial blifs in be- 
 ing placed at the head of a flock of flieep, than when they 
 were on their throne furrounded by their fubjedls. I will 
 even admit the farmer's aflertion, that his llieep throve 
 better under the care of thefe illuftrious and confequently 
 more enlightened perfonages ; yet flill it is a deed that cries 
 to heaven for vengeance, to bereave a whole community 
 of its head and governor, for the fake of fome advantage 
 and utility accruing thereby to a flock of fheep, the pro- 
 perty of a vile peafant ! — We faw, moi*eover, as we rode 
 along, (efpecially in Lange Kloof) numbers of fugitive Hot- 
 tentots
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 307 
 
 tentots of both fexes, who were now no longer purfued, ^^^^^^ 
 partly on account of their age and infirmities, and partly \,^/y^ 
 becaufe it was not worth any colonill's while to lay hold on 
 them, as they would be liable to be demanded back by 
 their former matters. One of thefe that I pafled on the 
 road, a very old man, died (as I was told) tlie day after of 
 weaknefs and fatigue. Moft of thefe fugitives carried a 
 thick flout flafF, generally headed with a heavy gritflone 
 of two pounds weight or more, rounded off, and with a 
 hole bored through the middle of it, in order to increafe 
 the force of the flick for the purpofe of digging up roots 
 and bulbs out of the ground ; and at the fame time for 
 piercing the hard clay hillocks, which are formed to the 
 height of three or four feet, by a kind of ants, (Urmes) a 
 fpecies of infedl of which the Bofliies-men's food in a great 
 meafure confifls. It gave me no fmall pain, to fee the 
 poor old fugitives frequently wafling the remains of their 
 flrength on thefe hardened hillocks in vain, fome other ani- 
 mal, that feeds on ants, having worked its way into them, 
 and confumed all their provifion before hand. 
 
 I was at a place in Lange Kloofy where feveral Hottentot 
 fugitives came to beg tobacco of our hofls. They acknow- 
 ledged, that they had come over the mountains from Hout- 
 niquas^ where they had, indeed, had a very good mafler ; 
 but faid, that they chofe to go home to their own country : 
 and, indeed, fince the death of one of their companions, 
 were more particularly obliged to remove from thence. 
 
 At Krakkeel-rivier the ground was very flony, and there were 
 a great many heaps of pebble-flones, three or four feet in height, 
 that had lain there time out of mind ; fo that no conjedlures 
 
 R r a could
 
 3o8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '775- could be formed, to what end or on what occafion they had 
 
 Odober. 
 
 Vfc>vv> been laid up together. 
 
 In a vale near this fpot I faw feveral large pits, with a 
 lliarp {take placed in the middle, intended as fnares to catch 
 the larger fort of game. I and my horfe were very near 
 being caught in one of them ourfelves. 
 
 In the mountains near KUppen-drift lives, it is faid, a 
 race of Hottentots, which, from the place of their abode, 
 are called Mountain-Hottentots. Thefe are, without doubt, 
 the fame kind of Bolliies-men, that ileal and make their prey 
 of cattle, and, in other refpe6ts, live on game and the na- 
 tural produce of the fields, as I have defcribed above. The 
 farmers hereabouts, on that account, did not dare to let their 
 cattle feed at any diftance from their farms. 
 
 At Zwarte Kloofs a farm between Krakkeel and Wagen- 
 booms-rivier^ they fliewed me a Hottentot girl, about ten 
 years old, who, though born and brought up in their fer- 
 vice, had got, as they faid, even at that tender age, the 
 Hottentot w^ay of eloping. She had run away for a fort- 
 night together, and in all this time had lived on nothing 
 but the wild produce of the fields and woods ; and yet had 
 kept up her flelh, and returned home plump and in good 
 condition. On her return, fhe gave an account of her- 
 felf to the following purport. That llie had wandered 
 to a great diftance, and once at the fight of a huge beaft, 
 (which, on her giving a farther defcription of it, was fup- 
 pofed to have been a lion) fhe was fo terribly frightened, 
 that file immediately made the beft of her way home. 
 
 About Wagenbooms-rivier there is found, according to 
 all accounts, a lizard as black as a coal, about a foot in 
 
 length.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 309 
 
 length, which we fuppofed to be very venomous, as the Q^^^'eV. 
 Hottentots teflified the greatefb dread of them. This crea- s^-y^O 
 ture is faid, however, to be very rare. The heaps of ftones 
 lying near this fame river, are the peculiar abode of great 
 numbers of thofe little animals which are defcribed by 
 M. Pallas, by the name of cavia Capenfis '■•■, and by the co- 
 lonifts are called dajfes, or badgers. Thefe creatures, which 
 have fome affinity with the ordinary marmots, and are 
 about the fame lize, are eaten by many people, who look on 
 them as a delicacy. They are likewife ealily made ex- 
 tremely tame, and are found in many other places in the 
 African mountains. The little DaJJen iflands on the weft- 
 ern coaft of Africa, take their name from them. 
 
 On thofe places in the riiountains, where thefe creatures 
 dwell, there is found a fubflance called here Daffen-pifs. 
 It refembles petroleum, or rock-oil, and by m.any, that 
 have feen it, is adlually confidered as fuch. It is likewife 
 ufed by fome people for medical purpofes, and by them is 
 fuppofed to have greater powers than is coniiftent with 
 any degree of probability. Finding that this fubflance did 
 not ftand the fame proofs as petrolasum, and at the fame 
 time that it was found only in places frequented by the 
 dqjesy I had fufficient reafon to conclude that it proceeded 
 from this animal, and that it is molt probably the men- 
 llrual excretion of the creature ; as obfervations made on 
 a tame female of this fpecies, have given room for fuch a 
 fufpicion ; and as befides the dafs's excrements are often 
 found in this fubflance, and feldom any where elfe. 
 
 * This animal is of the fame genus with the Guinea-pig, or cavia cdaya. 
 
 The
 
 310 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 J77y The river of 'Three Fountains^ (Drie Fonteins) the lafl 
 
 October. ^ ' 
 
 O-vO in Lange Kloof, is the origin of fome great river in 
 Sitficamma. 
 
 The temperature of the air for this month of Odober, 
 approached as nearly as poflible to that of the preceding 
 month, or September. The rainy days were the 9th, 
 lothj 19th, 20th, 2 2d, 23d, 26th, 27th, and 28th. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 311 
 
 G H A ?• IX. 
 
 Journey from Lange Dal to Sitjicamma^ and from 
 thence to Sea-cow River. 
 
 o 
 
 N the I ft of November we fet out for Kromme- ^1775- 
 rivier^ or the Crooked-river, fo called from the cir- 
 
 cumftance of its running with many turnings and wind- 
 ings through a very narrow dale. This river was very- 
 full of ooze, and in other refpe£ts was inconvenient to us, 
 as we had to crofs it eight times before we got to EJJen- 
 bofcby which was the following day, or the 2d of No- 
 vember. 
 
 The name of Effen-bofcb is given to a kind of woody 
 tradt along EJ^en-rivier^ which, as well as the wood, has 
 taken its name from the elTe or aili-tree. This tree makes 
 an entirely new genus, and is defcribed by me in the Tranf- 
 adlions of the Royal Academy of Sciences, by the name of 
 Ekebergia Capenjts^ in compliment to Sir Charles Gus- 
 TAVUS Ekeberg, Member of the Royal Academy of 
 Sciences, and Knight of the Order of Vafa, who was the 
 occalion of my making this voyage ; and who, by his 
 zeal for natural hiftory, and the great pains he has been 
 at in promoting it, is highly deferving of this diftindion. 
 
 The 
 
 v.-^rsj
 
 312 A VOYA G E to the 
 
 ^, »775- The tradl of country round about this place is confidered 
 
 November. ^ 
 
 L^-Y-\J ^s /our, A farmer had lately chofen this fpot to cultivate 
 and live in. For the prefent, a hut compofed of leaves 
 and ftraw was all the houfe he had. Here I found and 
 made a defcription of many trees and fhrubs, which I had 
 not feen before. Here were like wife, in greater numbers 
 than elfewhere, infe6ls of that peculiar genus firfl defcrib- 
 ed by ProfelTor Thunberg, by the name of pneumora, in 
 the Swedifli Tranfadlions, Vol. XXXVI. p. 254. This fpe- 
 cies, to which likewife muft be referred the Gr. pap/7/os. 
 Fabr. is compofed of i. pn. immac, (gryll. unicoL Linn :) 
 2. pn. macul. (gr. variolas, Linn, and Fabr.) 3. pn. fex 
 gutt, (gr. inan, Fabr.) They are from two to three 
 inches long, and their abdomen, one lingie fmall gut ex- 
 cepted, is found empty, and at the fame time quite pellu- 
 cid, and likewife blown up and diftended ; on which ac- 
 count they are called bJaazops by the colonifts, and are 
 faid to live on nothing but wind. In the day time they 
 are moftly filent, but in the places haunted by them, one 
 fometimes of an evening hears the noife of them from all 
 Udes, which is tremulous and tolerably loud. They are 
 eafily allured by any ftrong light in the dark, and then are 
 eafieft caught ; but very rarely appear at that time. A 
 perfon affured me, they might eafily be brought out of 
 their-hiding places by a noife, or by talking to them, as 
 it were, and going to meet them ; but when he made the 
 experiment in my prefence it failed. 
 
 On the 3d we baited at the next farm, which was on the 
 
 other fide of Diep-rivier, Several Hottentots of theBolliies- 
 
 man race, who were in the farmer's fervice, had their huts 
 
 8 near
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 313 
 
 near the farm. Thefe huts were made of flraw, but were j^^J^T^^er. 
 now, for the greater part, covered beiides with large flips of v^vvJ 
 elephant's fleili, which was cvit out zig-zag fafhion in 
 firings or flips of the thicknefs of two, three, and four 
 fingers breadth, and hung together to the length of fe- 
 veral fathoms. Some of thefe were wound round the 
 huts, while others were flretched from one hut to the other 
 for the fake of drying them. At this time the men, wo- 
 men, and children here had no other employment than 
 that of fleeping, fmoking, and eating elephant's flefli. 
 And though 1 had eaten dog's flefli in the South-Sea, yet 
 the looks and flavour of the prefent entertainment, were 
 fuflicient to take from me all curioflty and deflre of tafl- 
 ing that of the elephant. Befides, at this time it was not 
 frefli, but had been dried for fome days in the fun ; fo 
 that had I tailed of it, my opinion could not by any means 
 have been depended on ; and I fliovild have drawn upon 
 myfelf the contempt of the colonifls into the bargain, who 
 look upon it almoil as horrible an a6lion to eat the flefli 
 of an elephant as that of a man ; as the elephant, accord- 
 ing to them, is a very intelligent animal, which, when it 
 is wounded and finds that it cannot efcape from its ene- 
 mies, in a manner v/eeps ; fo that the tears run down its 
 cheeks, jull: as with the human fpecies when in forrow 
 and afflidtion. I was delirous of riding out upon the 
 plains where the elephants had been fliot, in order to fee 
 the Ikcletons of them ; but I was afllircd, that all their 
 bones had been already dragged ofl" the premifes by the 
 wolves. 
 
 Vol. L S s This
 
 314 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- This which they were now feaftin^ upon they fup- 
 
 November. ^,i , n t n 
 
 ^^^•"sj poled to be a young male, as the tuiks were rather of the 
 fmallefl:, being no more than three feet long, and its largeft 
 grinders not above four inches in breadth ; while the 
 grinder of an elephant w^hich I got from fome other ele- 
 phant-hunters at the Cape, and now prefer ve in the cabi- 
 net of the Royal Academy of Sciences, is nine inches 
 broad, and weighs four pounds and a half ; though it bears 
 evident marks of having been the farthell tooth in the 
 jaw, and of not being grown to its full iize, having been 
 enclofed in the gum to about two-thirds of its breadth. 
 The diftance from the root to the top of the tooth, or its 
 elevation above the focket, feems to have been three 
 inches. The ears of the elephant iliot at this place, were 
 reported to have reached from the fhoulders of a middle- 
 lized Hottentot down to the ground. One of the fore legs, 
 w^hich had been brought to the farm, lay there as yet un- 
 diiiedled. The hide was not near fo compadl and clofe as 
 thofe of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, but the tex- 
 ture of it feemed to be compofed of larger tubes and 
 blood-veffels ; at the fame time that the external furface 
 of it w^as more uneven, wTinkled, and knotty, and there- 
 ' fore cannot be ufed for making whips, as are the hides of 
 the animals jufl mentioned. The foot was almoft round, 
 meafuring very little more acrofs than the leg, which was 
 hardly one foot in diameter. The toes fhould be always 
 five in number, but the hoofs vary in that refpe61:, accord- 
 ing to the obfervation of M. Buffon, Tom. XI. p. 68. 
 In this fpecimen I found only four, the largeft of which 
 feemed to have been on the outlide of the foot, and the 
 
 fmalleft
 
 CAPE OF eOOD HOPE. 315 
 
 fmallefl were but one inch each in diameter. The Ikin .t '^''V 
 
 November, 
 
 under the foot, did not feem to be thicker or of a firmer <^^y>^ 
 texture than that of the other parts of the body. 
 
 It was fuppofed, that the elephant which was fliot here, 
 had been driven away from its herd by fome other males 
 flronger than itfelf out of Sitficanima, in the thick forefts 
 of which the elephants may find an afylum ; or, to fpeak 
 more properly, be fortified againft the attacks of their ene- 
 mies : for as to Lange Kloofs and other places which the 
 Chriftian? had begun to inhabit, thefe animals were obliged 
 immediately to retire from them. The chace of the ele- 
 phant here mentioned was, according to the account given 
 by the hunters themfelves, (a couple of farmers) carried 
 on in the following manner. 
 
 On the very evening on which they faw this huge ani- 
 mal, they immediately refolved to purfue it on horfeback ; 
 though they were fo far from being fkilful and pra6lifed 
 elephant-hunters, that they never before fet eyes upon one 
 of thefe animals. This probably, however, according to 
 their defcription, was not lefs than eleven or twelve feet 
 high ; while, on the other hand, the largeft of this fpecies 
 are faid to reach to the height of fifteen or fixteen feet *. 
 Their horfes, though as much unufed as their riders to 
 the fight of this colofTal animal, yet did not filinch in the 
 leall. The animal, likewife, did not feem to trouble him- 
 
 * If this be the cafe, the Afiatic elephants are much inferior to the African in point 
 of fize : as Mr. ^VoLF, who was nineteen years in Ceylon, where thefe animals are 
 largell:, and who had opportunities of getting the beft information concerning them, 
 fpeaks of twelve feet, or fix German ells, as being a great height, and mentions an 
 elephant of twelve feet and an inch in height, as a great curiofity. Vide Wolf's 
 Voyage to Ceylon, juft publiflied. 
 
 S s 2 feif
 
 3i6 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- felf about them, till they came within fixty or feventy 
 ^..yysj paces of him ; when one of them at that inftant, after the 
 iifual manner of the Cape huntfmen, jum.ped off his horfe, 
 and, fecuring the bridle, fell upon one knee, and with 
 his left hand fixing his ramrod, uj^on which he refted his 
 ' piece, into the ground, took his aim and fired on the ele- 
 phant, which then had got about forty or fifty paces far- 
 ther off: for in this country, when they hunt the larger 
 kind of animals, they generally choofe to take the oppor- 
 tunity of fliooting at the diflance of one hundred and fifty 
 paces ; partly becaufe they load their pieces in fuch a man- 
 ner, that the ball, in their opinion, has the greatefl efFe6l 
 at that dilf ance ; and partly at this diftance, they can get 
 time to mount their horfes again, and make off, before 
 the wounded animal can come up to them to take his re- 
 venge. Our fportfman had fcarcely got into the faddle, and 
 turned his horfe's head round, before he found that the 
 elephant was at his heels. Jufl at that inflant the creature 
 had fet up a fliarp flirill cry, which he thought he felt 
 pierce to the very marrow of his bones ; and which caufed 
 his horfe likewife to make feveral hafty leaps, and after- 
 wards fet off galloping with an incredible fwiftnefs. In the 
 mean while the huntfman had the prefence of mind to ride 
 his horfe up an afcent, knowing that elephants and other 
 large animals are flow and unwieldly going up hill, in 
 proportion to their weight, but the contrary in going down 
 hill. On this account he galloped off with the greateft 
 fecurity, and at the fame time his companion had the more 
 leifure to advance to one fide of the elephant, where he 
 thought he could eafieft dire6t his lliot at the heart and 
 
 larger
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 317 
 
 larger arteries belonging to the lungs of the animal. This, vj^J.^^^'p^ 
 however, did not hit any dangerous part, as the horfe was '^-^^^^ 
 unruly and pulled at the bridle, which the man had hung 
 over his right arm, at the time that, in the fame manner as 
 the former, he had jumped off his horfe and fired his 
 piece. The elephant, which now turned upon this latter, 
 was foon tired of purfuing him, as he had an opportunity 
 of riding from it up a flill fteeper hill than his companion. 
 Afterwards the two hunters found it anfwer better to hold 
 each other's horfes, fo that they fliould not get away, while 
 each of the fportfmen fired their pieces by turns. The 
 elephant, even after the third ball, flill threatened ven- 
 geance ; but the fourth entirely cooled his courage : how- 
 ever, he did not abfolutely drop till he had received the 
 eighth. Several experienced hunters of elephants have 
 neverthelefs afTured me, that one fingle ball is fufhcient 
 to bring an elephant to the ground, but for this purpofe 
 it is necefTary, 
 
 ifl. That the bore of the piece be large enough to ad- 
 mit of a ball w^eighing about three, or leafl above two 
 ounces. 
 
 2dly, That the piece be well ftocked, which will ena- 
 ble it to bear a higher charge ; for it muli be obferved, 
 that th-e farmers, for the purpofe of hunting the elephant, 
 fea-cow, rhinoceros, and even the buffalo, generally chufe 
 and pay a good price for the old-fafliioned Swediili and 
 Danifh mufkets,- which at prefent, on account of their 
 great weight and clumfinefs, are no longer xn. ufe ; but 
 they generally put a flronger flock to them than they had 
 before, in order that they may bear a charge fo much the 
 
 higher
 
 3 1 8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 177?- higher without recoiling. It is in confeqnence of th6 
 K^/y^ weight of the piece, that the fportfman hardly ever offers 
 to fire off his gun, without refting on his ramrod in the 
 manner before mentioned. Still lefs does any one venture 
 to difcharge his piece, while fitting on his horfe, as both 
 the horfe and its mafter have lifually a tremor upon them 
 in confequence of hard riding. 
 
 3dly, It is requifite for the lliooting of elephants, that 
 the ball be compofed of about one part of tin, and two 
 parts of lead ; for a ball made of lead alone is always quite, 
 or, at leaft, in fome meafure flattened, againfl the thick and 
 very tough hides of the larger kind of animals, and by 
 this means miffes its intended effedl, as I have myfelf feen 
 in the cafe of the rhinoceros. Again, if there be too great 
 a mixture of tin in the ball, this will be too light and brit- 
 tle into the bargain ; fo that, as I have likewife found by 
 experience, it will fly afunder in the feam, when it hits 
 againlt the honey parts of the body of any large beaft. Se- 
 veral people have affured me, that with muikets of this 
 kind highly charged, and tin baUs, they could make a hole 
 through a plough-lhare of a tolerable thicknefs. Indeed I 
 never faw this done, but do not look upon it as incredible ; 
 as when I feemed to doubt of the facft, feveral people of- 
 fered to lay me a wager of it. On the other hand, I was 
 the more inclined to beHeve it, as I knew that with a mere 
 leaden piftol bullet, a perfon has fometimes fliot through 
 a breaft-plate. I have heard many fportfmen mention it, 
 as a fadt well known among their fraternity, that when 
 they have got an opportunity of firing with the larger 
 kind of fire-arms among a herd of zebras and quaggas 
 
 that
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 319 
 
 that have flood clofe tog-ether, the ball, when it did not ., '""i* 
 hit upon any of the honey parts of them, has paffed through V^yx^ 
 four or five of thefe animals at a time. 
 
 4thly, It is necelTary above all things to hit the elephant 
 on the heart, or fomewhere near it, where it is a great 
 chance but that the ball meets with fome large blood- velTel, 
 by which means the animal foon bleeds to death. It is 
 therefore the more requifite to have a large piece, as the 
 wound made by a fmall ball, may eafily happen to be clofed 
 up with fat or clots of blood ; not to mention the elaflicity of 
 the hide and mufcular fibres, which in the elephant, rhi- 
 noceros, and many other large animals, is proportionally 
 greater than in the fmaller kind of game ; and in confe- 
 quence of which, the wound made by the fliot is the ealier-' 
 contracted and diminilhed. 
 
 A man famous for fliooting of elephants, told me, in- 
 deed, that the belt way to come at the heart of this ani- 
 mal, was to level the piece at that part of its fide, which 
 is generally in contact with the tips of its ears ; but to 
 judge from the beautiful drawing of this creature in M. 
 Buffon's work, the ears feem too fhort for the directions 
 given me by my informer to be of any ufe ; except, in- 
 deed, that the African elephants fhould have fomewhat 
 longer ears than that of M. Buffon ; or that the ears in 
 the large and very old animals, are proportionably much 
 more lengthened, than in the young one reprefented in the 
 work above-mentioned. 
 
 It mufl have been from experience, that the huntfmen 
 
 at the Cape have learned not to take aim at the elephant's 
 
 head, as the brain is too fmall to be eafily hit, and is 
 
 I more-
 
 -32 
 
 A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 . '775- moreover well defended by a thick and hard cranium. 
 
 X-o^^ This likewife correfponds with what is previoufly known 
 ^^ ith regard to this animal ; but from w^hat has been faid 
 above, it is evident, that two or three hundred people 
 could not poflibly have any trouble in fliooting one ele- 
 phant, (a fa6t wliich however is related by M. Buff on, 
 page II, from Bosman's Voyage to Guinea^ page 254,) 
 unlefs the fire-arms, as well as the fportfmen, are mifer- 
 able indeed ; much lefs does it require a whole army, as 
 the former author fuppofes it does, to attack a herd of ele- 
 phants. In fa6l, this, in Africa, is often attempted by a fnigie 
 huntfman, when provided with a fleet horfe ufed to hunt- 
 ing, and who at the fame time finds the elephants on the 
 plains before him. In fo doing, he hardly runs any greater 
 rifk than when he has only one of thefe animals to attack. 
 In this cafe, the youngeit elephants are wont to fly firfl ; 
 but one or two of the old ones, who have the flrongefl 
 teeth, and are the very identical animals the fportfmen 
 wifli to have to do with, fometimes, perhaps, will run 
 after him ; but as they are foon weary and turn back again, 
 the fportfman turns upon them again, and always finds an 
 opportunity of fliooting fome of them. When one of thefe 
 beafls is hit only upon the hip, it is generally faid, 
 that he has received earneft of the huntfman, as he 
 is rendered lame by it, and in confequence of this may ex- 
 pe6t from them a more dangerous wound before he can 
 be able to get off. The larger the elephant's teeth are, and 
 ihe older the animals are themfelves, the heavier and flower 
 likewife they are faid to be, and find it more difhcult to 
 .4ef]:ape. When the fun has flione extremely hot, they 
 
 have
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 321 
 
 have been generally found very weak and weary, {0 that ^^JJ^'^^^ 
 fome people have ventured forth on foot to fhoot them. ^^^\-vJ 
 Some Hottentots, who are trained up to fhooting, and often 
 carried out by the farmers for this purpofe, are particu- 
 larly daring in this point ; as they are fwifter in running, 
 and at the fame time, not without reafon, fuppofe that 
 they have a lefs fufpicious appearance than the white peo- 
 ple in the eyes of the elephants and other animals ; and, 
 on account of the rank odour they have, (fomewhat like 
 that of game) which proceeds from their fkin-cloaks, their 
 greafe, and their bucku powder, are lefs liable to be dif- 
 covered by the fcent. 
 
 When the elephant finds himfelf wounded, he is faid 
 not to offer to defend himfelf from his enemies, and fome- 
 times not even to fly from them, but to fland flill to cool 
 himfelf, and fprinkle himfelf with the water, which he 
 now and then keeps in referve in his probofcis. When- 
 ever he comes to a piece of water, and finds himfelf warm, 
 he fucks up fome of it, in order to fprinkle himfelf with 
 it. It is already well known to naturalifts, that tlie ele- 
 phant's haunts are generally near the rivers ; neither are they 
 ignorant of the care and regularity with which, in Alia, thofe 
 that are rendered tame, are taken to water in order to be wafli- 
 ed : fo that it did not feem at all incredible to me, that the ele- 
 phants fhould fometimes be found, as I am informed they 
 often are, in the dry torrid fields of Africa, quite faint and 
 dying with thirft. One perfon alTured me, that in a marfliy 
 place, or, more properly fpeaking, a place full of land-fprings, 
 {fontem grimd) he had obferved pretty diftindl traces of ele- 
 phants having lain there. All the accounts I could collect, 
 
 Vo L. I. T t agreed
 
 1^2 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- ao;reed in this, that thefe animals, when hunted, endea- 
 K^ry^^ voiired. With the greatell: care, to avoid muddy rivers, 
 probably that they might not flick faft in the ooze ; while, 
 on the other hand, they induftrioufly fought out the larger 
 rivers, over wliich they fvvam with great eafe. For not- 
 withftanding that the elephant, from his feet, and the 
 polition of his limbs, does not feem to be adapted for 
 fwimming when he is out of his depth in the water, his body 
 and head being entirely funk under the furface, yet he is in 
 lefs danger of being drowned than other land animals, as he 
 carries his long trunk raifed above the furface of the water 
 in order to breathe, and can fleer his courfe in it by means of 
 this appendage ; which at the fame time forms his nofe or 
 organ of fmell, and is endued with a great olfactory power. It 
 has confequently been obferved, that when feveral elephants 
 have fwam over a river at the fame time, they have all 
 found the way very well ; and have been able at the fame 
 time to avoid running foul of each other, though their 
 heads and eyes have been all the while under water. 
 
 It is merely for the fake of the teeth that the elephants 
 are hunted by the colonifls, though at the fame time they 
 contrive to prefer ve the flefli for their fervants, viz. their 
 Haves and Hottentots^ And as the larger elephants teeth 
 weigh from one hundred to one hundred and fifty Dutch 
 pounds, which may be difpofed of to government for as 
 many gilders, fo that a man may fometimes earn three 
 hundred gilders at one fliot, it is no wonder that the 
 hunters of elephants are often fo extremely venturefome. 
 A peafant (now dead) who had hunted a large elephant 
 over the mouth of Zondags-rhier^ where it is very deep 
 
 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 323 
 
 and broad, was bold enough to piirfue it with his horfe, ^^;^^^^^ 
 and got over very fafe, though he carried with him his V•^-^ 
 heavy gun on his fhoulder, and could not fwim himfelf. 
 It was laid, however, that he got nothing by this bold 
 and daring aciion, as the elephant took refuge in a clofe 
 thorny thicket, where the hunter neither could nor dared 
 to creep after it. 
 
 It is only on the plains that they can fucceed in attack- 
 ing the elephants ; in the woods, where the attack cannot 
 be made otherwife than on foot, the chace is always more 
 dangerous. The hunter muft take great care to get on 
 the lee lide of the animal, or againfl the wind ; for if by 
 means of the wind he once gets fcent of the hunter, he 
 ruflies diredtly on him, endeavouring to kiU him, efpe- 
 cially if (as frequently is the cafe) he has ever been hunt- 
 ed before ; and thus has had an opportunity of knowing, 
 from experience, how dangerous and bold thefe markf- 
 men are. More than one of thefe daring men have, by 
 this means, been brought into the greateft danger. Dirk 
 Marcu&j the man I mentioned before as living at Hi^gel^ 
 craal, gave me an account of one of his adventures of the 
 chafe as follows : 
 
 " Once on a time in my youth, faid he, when from a 
 hill covered with buflies near a wood, I was endeavouring 
 to ileal upon an elephant to the leeward of me, on a 
 fudden I heard from the lee fide, a frightful cry or noife ; 
 and though at that time I was one of the boldefl of ele- 
 phant-hunters in the whole country, I cannot deny, but 
 that I was in a terrible taking, infomuch that I believe the 
 hair flood quite an end on my head. At the fame time it 
 
 T t 2 appeared
 
 324 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^^775- appeared to me, as though I had had feveral pails of cold 
 V^^v-^ water thrown over nie, witho-at rny being able to llir 
 from the fpot, before I faw this huge creature fo near me, 
 that he was almoft on the point of laying hold on me with 
 his trunk. At that inftant I fortunately had the prefence 
 of mind to take to my feet, and, to my great amazement, 
 found myfelf fo fwift, that I thought I fcarcely touch- 
 ed the ground : the beaft, however, was in the mean time 
 pretty clofe at my heels ; but having at laft got to the 
 wood, and crept away from him between the trees, the 
 elephant could not eafily follow me. With refpe(5t to the 
 place I was in at firil, I am certain that the animal could 
 not fee me, and confequently that he firft found me out 
 by the fcent. It may be thought, indeed, thai, out of 
 revenge at leaft, I ought to have fired my piece at this 
 Jfaucy intruder ; but, in facl, he came upon me fo unex- 
 pedledly, that in my firfl fright I did not think of it ; and 
 afterwards, my life depended upon every ftep I took ; and 
 at laft I was too much out of breath to attempt any thing of 
 that kind, being in fadl: very glad to get off fo well as I 
 did. Beiides I doubt much, w^hether a ball lodged in the 
 cheft, would have gone through the pleura into the heart ; 
 the fureft method is, to fire the ball in between the ribs, 
 quite flanting through the lungs or chefl." 
 
 Another of thefe bufh-fighting gentry, Claas Volk 
 by name, according to all accounts, was not fo fortunate. 
 Being once upon a plain under the flicker of a few fcam- 
 bling thorn-trees, {mimo/a Niloticd) he thought he fliould 
 be able to fleal upon an elephant that was near the fpot ; 
 but was difcovered, purfued, and overtaken by the animal, 
 
 which
 
 C A P E OF G O O D HO P E. 325 
 
 which laid hold of him with his trunk, and beat him to ^.^"^^s- 
 
 JNovember. 
 
 death. This, however, is the only inftance in the me- v^^w^ 
 mory of man, of any of thefe hunters having met with a 
 misfortune in the exercife of their profeffion ; excepting 
 another peafant of the name of Ruloph Champher, ia 
 whofe fide an elephant made a deep hole with its toe, as 
 (without feeing the man) it was lifting up its foot in order 
 to ftep over him. I examined the fear left after this wound, 
 and found a deep depreffion of four of the ribs, which 
 were fiiill fractured, and of which the man complained a 
 good deal upon any change of wxather. This misfor- 
 tune had happened to him many years before, near Zzvarf- 
 kops-rrvier^ where, wixh two of his companions, he lay 
 fleeping in the open air, by a fire that was almoll burnt 
 out. Thefe, very luckily for them, awoke a little before 
 the arrival of the elephant, and crept away among the 
 bufhes ; but the faddle-horfes belonging to all the three, 
 which, indeed, were tied to a tree, had their backs broke 
 in feveral places. The elephants, which were four or five 
 in number, were palling on their way very leifurely, at 
 the time when they did this mifchief. 
 
 From what has been already related, it follows evident- 
 ly, that the elephant-hunt, fo circumlfantially defcribed by 
 M. DE LA Caille, in his Journal Hijiorique dn Voyage fait 
 au Cap de B. Efperance^ p. 158, 159, 160, j6i, 162, as 
 being undertaken by the colonifts with lances, can be no- 
 thing elfe but a ftory, with which fomebody impofed upon 
 the good abbe's credulity ; and v/hich, when I was at the 
 Cape, feveral people that knew a little more of the matter, 
 were gracelefs enough to make a jeft of. Neither is there 
 
 much
 
 326 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1775- much more probability in the account given by this author, 
 v^^^YxJ of a misfortune that happened to an elephant-hunter in 
 this country. The flory runs thus : Once on a time three 
 brothers, natives of Europe, who had already made a hand- 
 fome fortune by following this profeflion, had, each of 
 them being on horfeback and armed with a lance, attack- 
 ed an elephant by turns ; which, however, at length, laid 
 hold on one of the horfes that had flumbled, and threw 
 him, together with his rider, up into the air, a hundred 
 paces from him ; then taking up the latter, ran him through 
 the body with one of his large tufks ; upon w^hich the ani- 
 mal held him up with exultation, as it were, thus impaled 
 and flirieking in a horrid manner, to the two other horfe- 
 men, his unhappy brothers. It is not extremely probable, 
 that an elephant could throw a horfe a hundred paces from 
 him, any more than that a man fliould be able to cry out 
 and fliriek, when he was pierced through, and fpitted on 
 the thick tooth of an elephant. But in the abbe's defence 
 it muit be remembered, that this ingenious aflronomer did 
 not intend to print any hiftorical account of the Cape.; the 
 fliort remarks he made upon this fubjedl, being not pub- 
 hfhed till after his death. 
 
 The elephant's manner of copulating is a point hitherto 
 much contefhed ; for, notwithftanding the great number 
 there are of them in hidia, many of which are apt to be 
 in rutt in fo high a degree as to run mad in confe- 
 quence of it. Hill nobody has ever been able to make them 
 copulate. Several authors have explained the matter in 
 this way ; that the elephants were too modefl -to fuffer any 
 human creature to be witnefs of their union, (a circum- 
 
 ftance
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 327 
 
 November. 
 
 fiance which thefe animals have ahvavs reafon to be ap- ., '775, 
 prehenfive of,) though the male and female are both fliut 
 up together in the fame dai*k liable. Others again have 
 gone fo far as to alTert, that the elephants are fo fliv, as 
 not to fufFer any of their own kind to be prefent at their 
 copulation. And many have endeavoured to explain the 
 continence of thefe animals in their domeflicated flate, from 
 the confideration of their magnanimity and pride, fup- 
 poiing them to have too much fenfe, as well as greatnefs 
 of foul, to wifli to multiply their race, and thus debafe it 
 by bringing it into the world in a Hate of bondage to 
 mankind. But fince we know,, that elephants, previous to 
 this, fufFer themfelves to be brought to obey by compul- 
 iion, and, indeed, to a greater degree of fubje<flion than 
 almofl any other animal, it fhould feem that we cannot, 
 with any reafon, beflow our approbation on this latter 
 opinion* 
 
 In all probability, therefore, this repugnance in a point 
 to which nature, on the other fide, vifibly encourages all 
 her creatures, proceeds from the peculiar make of the 
 elephant, rendering it partly unfit for the performance of 
 thefe rifes; an impediment which nature, perhaps, found 
 it necefTary to fet up againfl the too great increafe of thefe 
 gigantic animals; as, were it otherwife, by defolating and 
 laying wafle the whole extent of the warmer climates, they 
 would bring on the deflrudion of their own fpecies. 
 Moreover, as nature does not operate without means, may 
 not the continence of the elephant, whether implanted in 
 it by nature, or whether it be the mere confequence of 
 its form, or other accidental cireumftances, may not^ I fay^ 
 
 this
 
 ^28 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- this continence be the means employed by nature for the 
 \^^'' promotion of the growth and ftrength of this animal, 
 which are fo confiderably beyond thofe oif any other ? 
 Elephants (excepting fome males, which, being either too 
 old or too young to contend with their ftronger rivals, are 
 hunted away by them) always keep in herds; fo that while 
 fome few are, perhaps, prevented from copulating in the 
 early part of life, and confequently from being enervated^ 
 it is, probably, as I faid before, the peculiar formation of 
 their bodies v/hich, after all, proves the greateft oblfacle 
 in this point ; for the parts of generation in both fexes are 
 placed about the middle, juft under the belly, and thofe 
 of the male are very fhort in proportion to its body. 
 From this peculiarity in their formation moll authors have, 
 without fufficient foundation concluded, that the females 
 are capable of admitting the embraces of the male in no 
 other manner than lying on their backs. Nay, although 
 no one has ever been able to fay, that he had been an 
 eye-witnefs to tliis, yet that great naturalift, M. Buffon, 
 Tom. XI. p. 63, looks upon it as fo incontrovertible a point, 
 that he affures us, he fliould not once have doubted of it, 
 even if the travellers De Feynes, Taverniers, and Bus- 
 SYS did not accord with him, which, however, they do in 
 this particular. He therefore objedls likewife againft 
 Ariftotle, and that with fo much the greater reafon, as 
 this author defcribes their copulation as differing ia no 
 other way from that of other quadrupeds, than merely in 
 the female's lowering her loins on this occafion. Never^ 
 Ihelefs, in order to determine this fmgular queftion with 
 more certainty, I let flip no opportunity of interrogating
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 3^9 
 
 on the fubjedl every elephant-hunter I faw. To this ^, '775- 
 
 •^ J r November. 
 
 query they all agreed in replying, that with refpe6l to the V^^-Vi> 
 above-mentioned argument, they were molt inclined to 
 approve of the common opinion, if they had not been 
 differently informed by two of their companions, Jacob 
 KoK and Marcus Potgieter, who had adlually feea 
 elephants copulate. I met, however, only with the for- 
 mer of thefe hunters, who told me, he had likewife him- 
 felf been of opinion, that the female was obliged to lie 
 on her back on this occahon ; till at length, being out 
 along with Potgieter hunting of elephants, he had occa- 
 Hon to think otherwife. On a certain fpot they came to, 
 they could reckon about eight elephants, which, on ac- 
 count of the fmall fize of their tufks, they took for fe- 
 males, excepting two large ones ; which, making feveral 
 circles round one of thefe that they took for females, (the 
 only one, perhaps, in rut) frequently, in all probabihty, 
 by way of carefling her, flruck her with their trunks, 
 till at length flie threw herfelf down upon her knees, and 
 keeping the fpine of her back in a ftifF and extended po- 
 fition, brought her hind feet quite clofe to her fore feet, 
 or fomewhat beyond them; fo that flie almoil, as it were, 
 flood upon her head. In this forced pofture they faw 
 her wait a long while together for the carefTes of the 
 males, who, in fadl, likewife endeavoured to perform the 
 matrimonial rites, but from jealoufy hindered each other, 
 whenever either of them began to mount. After two 
 hours had thus elapfed, the patience of our hunters be- 
 gan to tire ; and the rather, becaufe, on account of the un- 
 even and ftoney nature of the ground, which, however, had 
 Vol. I. U u no
 
 330 A VOYAGE to The 
 
 ^, »77;- no wood upon it, and of a river beine between theni^, 
 
 IVovember. ^ i r- i r 
 
 \,.y^Y\j they could not dare to advance and nre at thele animals. 
 I will not diflemble, that though I have not the leaft oc- 
 cafion to doubt the veracity of my informer, and though 
 what he told me is by no means impoffible, I yet find 
 great difficulty in this matter. But on the other hand, 
 the fame may be faid of M. de Buffon's, or the common 
 opinion; firft, as they have not been able to confirm it 
 by the teftimony of any eye-witnefs, nor even by any in- 
 stance of this kind in other quadrupeds properly fo called ; 
 that is, in fuch animals as have fome degree of affinity with 
 elephants ; fecondly, as the female's lying on her back 
 can hardly be more convenient for the male, efpecially as 
 the vagina, according to what I am told, goes from the 
 fore part backwards ; thirdly, it is befides well known, 
 that the older elephants, on account of the unwieldinefs 
 of their bodies, chiefiy fland when they fleep, in order 
 to avoid the trouble and difficulty of lying down and get- 
 ting up again. Tavernier, indeed, in his third volume, 
 informs us, that the tame females when in rut make 
 themfelves a kind of bed, and lay themfelves in it on their 
 backs, at the fame time inviting the male elephant by 
 a peculiar cry, Sec. but as the author did not fee this 
 himfelf, and that befides it is entirely contrary to the mo- 
 defly and diflike to copulation for which the female ele- 
 phants have always been remarked, I cannot do otherwife 
 than leave M. Tavernier's relation and different opinions 
 touching the fubje(fl:, to the teft of future experience ^, 
 
 With 
 
 * Compare with the foregoing account that given by Wolf with refped to this 
 Aibjeit, in a book juft publifhed, called « The Life and Adventures of John Chrifto- 
 
 pher
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 331 
 
 A\'ith regard to the time that the female elephants go p^-JZ/Jber. 
 with young, I could get no information ; but that their ^^^y^U 
 cubs fuck with their trunks, is confirmed by the obferva- 
 tions of many. The female elephants have, moreover, 
 been feen followed by two or three cubs at a time, though 
 of very different fizes, viz. from three to eight or nine 
 feet high ; but the largeft of them, which confequently 
 was almoll full grown, was, neverthelefs, to the great afto- 
 nifliment of the huntfman, fuckled by the mother. And 
 when it fo happens, as is not unfrequently the cafe, that 
 by a female being ihot, an infant-cub has been deprived of 
 its mother, and at the fame time been feparated from the 
 other elephants, it has endeavoured to afTociate with the 
 hunters and their horfes, in the place of its deceafed mo- 
 ther, and followed them wherever they went. With le- 
 gard to this, feveral farmers afTured me, that they could 
 get fome milch-cows from the Hottentots in the way of 
 barter, or take fome from home along with them, to rear 
 the elephant's cubs with, in cafe they had any tolerable en- 
 couragement given them by the governor : but, perhaps, in 
 defedt of milch-cows, which, in fadl, are rather difficult 
 to be had there, they may bring up the young elephants 
 with gruel or porridge, or elfe with decodtions, or other 
 
 pher Wolf, with his Voyage to Ceylon." This author pretends to have had as much 
 experience in regard to elephants, as the generality of jockies in England with refpecl 
 to horfes ; and pofttively aflerts, that the female lies on her back on this occafion, at 
 the fame time giving a circumftantial defcription of the whole procefs. In the Addi- 
 tions to the Hiftory of the Elephants which M. de Buffon* has given in his Supple- 
 ment, Tom. III. (ed. in 4to) and Tom. VI. p. 165, (ed. in i2mo) a M. Bles 
 defcribes the copulation of the elephants in Ceylon, in the fame manner asfarmer 
 KoK does here, 
 
 U u 2 pi-eparations
 
 33^ 
 
 A V OY A G E TO THE 
 
 ^775- preparations of thofe herbs which it has been remarked, 
 
 November. ^ ^ 
 
 W'^Y-O that the elephants principally chufe to feed on. 
 
 According to the accounts of authors, and to what I 
 could learn both from the Hottentots and colonifts, ele- 
 phants have no fcrotum ; but their young fucklings might 
 probably, neverthelefs, undergo a certain operation, and 
 thus might be domefticated to greater advantage than thofe 
 that are now ufed in India ; for by means of this opera- 
 tion, as well as by habit, they would infallibly be lefs nice 
 in their food, lefs riotous and unruly, more hardy, and not 
 in the leaft fubjecSl to the fury that fometimes feizes them 
 in the rutting feafon. But though food feems more difficult 
 to be got for elephants in India, than it poflibly could be at 
 the Cape, yet I doubt whether it would be worth while 
 for many private people in that colony to keep them ; but 
 it certainly would be very proper for government to endea- 
 vour to tame fome of thefe animals, and ufe them in its 
 fervice. In India an elephant has an hundred pounds of 
 rice-groats -k daily, raw and boiled, and mixed up with 
 butter and fugar; belides, this they give it arrack and 
 pifang, (vid. Buffon, p. 43 ;) but as this animal in its 
 favage flate gets neither butter nor arrack, this, perhaps, 
 is to the full as unneceflary as to have it ferved out of 
 golden vefTels, and be waited on by noblemen, as is done 
 in Pegu. M. de Buffon, p. 143, fuppofes the con- 
 fumption of provifion by a wild elephant to amount to 
 150 pounds of grafs and roots daily ; and in the Memoires 
 pour fervir a I'Hift, des Animaux we find, that in the laft 
 century, an elephant in the menagerie at Verfailles, was 
 reckoned to be very fufiiciently fed with 80 pounds of 
 
 bread,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 333 
 
 bread, two buckets of foup, and twelve bottles of wine is^o^^Jj^b^j.. 
 every day. This elephant died in its 17th year, but would, v^/^'-v^ 
 perhaps, have lived longer, if it had not not been fed quite 
 fo plentifully ; as otherwife the age of an elephant is 
 reckoned 150, 200, and even 300 years, or more. Per- 
 haps a young one brought up at the Cape, would be con- 
 tented \\dth diftiller's wafh, grains, cabbage, and other ve- 
 getables, together with parboiled barley, malt, or wheat. 
 Wine being not very wholefome for them, might be very 
 well difpenfed with ; but as by prbmiUng it liquors, this 
 animal may be made to exert itfelf to a greater degree 
 than ufual, it might not be ainifs to give it a few bottles 
 of wine now and then. However, as wine in this colony 
 is at a very low price, the expence with regard to this ar- 
 ticle is likewife tolerable : neverthelefs, it cannot be de- 
 nied, but that even at the Cape it mufl be difficult to find 
 fo large an animal as this in provifion ; but, on the other 
 hand, it muft be remembered, w^hat great advantages may 
 be gained by keeping them ; for befides that the elephant 
 is extremely docile, fenfible, and obedient, its flrength is 
 very confiderable. It is faid to be able with its trunk, to 
 lift two hundred weight on to its fhoulders from the 
 ground without the leafl difficulty, and to carry goods to 
 the amount of three thoufand two hundred w^eight with 
 eafe and pleafure. It is likewife able to pull up trees by 
 the roots with its tufks, and break the branches off wdth 
 its fnout (vid. Buffon, 1. c. p. 41, 42;) nay, wdth this 
 lingular inftrument it can untie knots with great readinefs, 
 open locks, and take up the fmallell piece of money from 
 the ground. 
 
 <« But
 
 334 ^ VOYAGE to the 
 
 1775- « But to f^ive an idea (fays M. de Buffon) of the fer- 
 
 \-*^Y-s^ vice this animal is capable of doing, it is fufficient to men- 
 tion, that all the cafks, facks, and packs which are fent 
 from one place to another in the Indies, are conveyed by 
 elephants ; that they are capable of carrying burthens on 
 their backs, necks, tufks, and even in their mouths, by 
 means of a rope, one end of which is given to them, and 
 which they hold between their teeth ; that being endued 
 with as much intelligence as llrength, they take care not 
 to break nor do any damage to the parcels entrulled to 
 their care; that they take them from off the beach into 
 the boats without fuffering them to be wet, laying them 
 down gently, and adjufting them in their proper places; 
 that when they have put them into the place w^here they 
 wxre ordered, they try with their trunks, whether they 
 ftand fafe or not; and if a cafk is in danger of rolling, 
 they will go and get ftones of their own accord to fet 
 againfl it." 
 
 So that it is no wonder, that an animal of fuch great 
 utility fells in India for nine, or ten, nay, even as high as 
 thirty-fix thoufand livres (vid. 1. c. p. 43.) Thefe animals 
 would be found particularly ferviceable in bringing timber 
 from Houtniquas and Groot Faders-bofchy and in tranfport- 
 ing goods between the Cape and Bay-Falso; efpecially 
 as, according to Buffon, p. 42. they can with great eafe 
 perform a journey of fifteen or twenty leagues a day, and 
 twice as much if you pufli them on. They make as 
 much way in their walk as a horfe does in his ufual trot, 
 and in running as a horfe does in a gallop, (1. c.) When 
 in fome places they are difturbed hy the hunters at the 
 
 3 Cape,
 
 C AP E OF G O O D H O P E. 335 
 
 Cape, and find no woods there to flielter them, they do ^. »77v 
 
 ^ , •' TMovemoer. 
 
 not flop before they get feveral days journey from the fpot v^vs^ 
 where they were. As the elephants in this colony are 
 now become more wary, withdrawing into Sitficamma and 
 other woody tracts of country where they are difficult to 
 get at, or far iip the country on the north fide of Vifch- 
 rivier and into Cafferland^ people have lately been lefs in- 
 clined to hunting them than they were for feveral years 
 back; efpecially as they are obliged to fell all the ivory to the 
 company, which pays by the pound lefs by one half for 
 the fmall tufks than what it does for the large ones : for 
 which reafon, the peafants frequently fmuggle the fmall 
 tufks to the Cape in their butter-tubs, with a view to get 
 fomewhat better payment for them from the private mer- 
 chants. Many years back, when the elephants were to be 
 found near the Cape, nine or ten people (feveral of whom 
 were living when I was there) particularly diflinguifiied 
 themfelves by their fuccefs in fhooting thefe animals, though 
 not without undergoing fome danger and hunger, and the 
 greatefl difficulties for many months together ; after which, 
 on the other hand, they would in an equal, or perhaps 
 much fliorter period of time, as freely and prodigally fpend 
 what they had earned in thefe expeditions, which might 
 be from an hundred to three hundred rixdollars a man. 
 The confequence of this was, that a confiderable num- 
 ber of elephants have been extirpated : neverthelefs, it is 
 agreed on all hands, that this is a mere nothing in com- 
 ])arifon of the number of thofe that efcape ; as fometimes 
 one fees them in flocks to the amount of feveral hundreds 
 or even thoufands, though, perhaps, one is not able to 
 
 Ihoot
 
 r» 
 
 36 A V O Y A G E T o T H E 
 
 »775' fhoot above one of them : fo that they, probably, herd 
 K^y^y^j together in infinitely greater numbers about the more re- 
 mote and unfrequented rivers in the other parts of Africa, 
 where, perhaps, they do not only find an afylum, but even 
 exercife dominion over mankind; while the people that 
 inhabit thofe parts are without the knowledge of gun- 
 powder, an article of fuch various utility, the invention of 
 which people are fo univerfally of accord to find fault 
 with, the great ufe of which, however, in the confervation 
 and civilization of our fpecies (though I have never heard 
 acknowledged by any one) it does not appear to me diffi- 
 cult to perceive ; a great many Negroes, for want of pow- 
 der and fire-arms, being obliged to make their dwellings 
 under-ground, merely on account of the elephants; by 
 which, however, they have often the mortification of fee- 
 ing their plantations deftroyed. 
 
 The Hottentots that I took into my fervice near Zondags- 
 rivier.y told me, that in a hunting party, fome of their ac- 
 quaintance had got an elephant's cub for their fliare, 
 which followed them to their craal^ where they had killed 
 it, and feafted on its flefli. The mother, who probably had 
 at length traced it out by the fcent, went at night, when 
 it was dark, to the craai, and, by way of revenge, de^ 
 flroyed and turned every thing fhe found topfy turvy. 
 
 Both Negroes and Hottentots lay fnares for thefe animals 
 by means of pits which they make, covering them over 
 neatly afterwards, in places where the elephants are ufed to 
 pafs, but the quantity caught by this method is very inconfi- 
 derable. I have alfo been told, that the Hottentots are 
 Sometimes adventurous enough to throw poifoned darts at 
 
 an 
 
 I
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 337 
 
 nn elephant, after which they mufl have the patience to ^rrs- 
 
 - -, ^ • 1 r- 1 1 1 November. 
 
 tollow the animal feveral days by the fcent, before the v^^yv^ 
 poifon is capable of fpreading over its huge body, and of 
 caiifing it to fall. 
 
 The Negroes, who, according to certain private infor- 
 mation I have received, mutually buy and fell the tail of 
 the elephant at the price of its weight in gold (or, accord- 
 ing to M. DE Buff ox, p. 63,) exchange it in the way of 
 barter for two or three flaves, induced by fome fuperili- 
 tious notion, have the boldnefs to cut it off from the body 
 of the living animal. The Hottentots, however, fet no 
 more value upon it than they do upon the tails of the buf- 
 falo or other animals, which they carry in their girdles, 
 as tokens of their dexteritv and fuccefs in hunting-. 
 
 o 
 
 I brought the tail of an elephant home with me. The 
 fkin of it being ftripped from the tail itfelf a foot, is two 
 inches broad, and about the thicknefs of a thin ox's hide. 
 Probably on the body of the animal, when alive, this tail 
 was fcarcely thicker than a man's thumb. 
 
 From the tip of it, and near it to about a foot higher 
 up, on the outfide, grow fome fliff fmooth hairs, of a 
 gloffy black colour, and fourteen or fifteen inches long, in 
 all to the number of about one hundred and eighty, of 
 the thicknefs of middling packthread or iron v/ire. Thefe 
 hairs are not hollow, but of a horny nature throughout 
 their whole fubllance ; a great many of them, however, are 
 tough, and will bear to be doubled or tied in knots with- 
 out breaking, and can fcarcely be fnapped afunder bv the 
 ftrength of a man, and would therefore be uleful for 
 making beards to filhiing-hooks ; though fome of them, 
 
 Vol. I. X X on
 
 338 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^ ^11 >' on the other hand, are very brittle. The greater part are 
 \,^^^!^^' rather flat than round, and many of them very uneven 
 and a httle twiil:ed, while fome are thicker tov/ards the 
 point. Perhaps thefe hairs are not to be found upon every 
 elephant, but only upon the large and old ones ; as feveral 
 of my acquaintance, who have feen. thefe animals in the 
 menageries of Peterfburgh and Paris, could not recolledl 
 liaving obferved thefe hairs, jufl as I have been defcribing 
 them, and fliewed to them at the time. 
 
 Foflil elephants teeth, perhaps, are feldom to be had at 
 the Cape ; probably from their not having dug deep any 
 where thereabouts, and from the Hottentots having long 
 fince catched up and carried away fuch as, after the death 
 of any elephant, may have been to be found near the fur- 
 face, and like wife from the CaiFres being accuflomed to 
 make bracelets of fuch as they can procure. Seafaring men, 
 however, who have vilited the eaftern coafl of Africa, have 
 informed me, that they have ivory there either for barter 
 or for fale, in a much greater quantity than it is probable 
 the barbarous inhabitants could themfelves procure by 
 hunting. This likewife accords with what I think I re- 
 member to have read in fome old writers of voyages. A 
 • farmer told me, that when he lived in the diftri6t of Cango 
 in this colony, he had found fome elephants teeth, not in 
 the leaft damaged, three feet under ground, which he 
 imagined had been buried there in former times by the 
 Hottentots as a treafure. It is likewife poffible, that they 
 might have been buried by degrees, and in procefs of time 
 by the winds railing the fand and dvifl near them, and af- 
 terwards were farther covered over by the mould produced 
 
 by
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 339 
 
 by decayed trees and vegetables. As like wife people at ^^',^7^^^. 
 the Cape are very little ufed to pry into the bowels of the ^^•vO 
 earth, there perhaps itill lie buried, from the like caufes, 
 in feveral fpots thereabouts, a hundred times this quan- 
 tity of elephants teeth. It has, however, much more puz- 
 zled the philofophers with their fyftems and corije6tures 
 to explain, how elephants teeth and bones, as well as the 
 remains of the rhinoceros, fliould get to the cold latitude 
 of Siberia, where, by the name of relicks of the Mam* 
 mouthy (an imaginary fubterraneous animal,) they are dug 
 up in greater quantities than any where elfe. 
 
 In the mean while, till this matter is cleared up, as after 
 the whole is mere conje6lure; M. deBuffon, for inftance, 
 (fee his Supplement^ of late refuted with great folidky by M. 
 Marivetz, Pbyftquedu Monde^ Tom. I.) modifying the earth 
 according to his own fancy, and, after having previoufly 
 ^brought it to a fwelling heat, fuppofmg it firft began to 
 cool at Siberia and near the pole, at which time the crea- 
 tion of elephants. Sec. took place ; others again drowning 
 it in a deluge, in order to have an opportunity of carrying 
 thither by the torrent the rhinoceros and elephant from 
 the warmer climates of Alia : I, for my part, could willi, 
 that thefe great men with their fyllems, would allow them 
 quietly to take their own courfe, and to get to Siberia on 
 their feet. No eafier method at leaft, none more natural, 
 nor more confiftent with the conftant pradice of other 
 migrating animals can poflibly be thought of. Who is 
 not, for infcance, acquainted with the pertinacious migra- 
 tions from time to time of the lemings {mus lemmus^) wliere 
 they muft in the end be frozen and famiflied to death, in 
 
 X X 2 cafe
 
 340 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- cafe they chance to efcape in the mean time, beinff made a 
 
 November. ■ -i • rr' 
 
 V^YV> prey to ravenous animals, or being drowned in cromng 
 rivers ► 
 
 The mus migratorius feu accedula of M. Pallas, is ano- 
 ther inftance of this difpofition in animals to migrate. Of 
 the migration of antilopes, efpecially of the fpring-boks.y 
 downwards to the Cape of Good Hope, I fliall have occalion 
 to make mention farther on. The more confiderable 
 peregrinations of locufls, indeed, will, perhaps, be of no 
 avail, as examples in the cafes of quadrupeds ; but thofe 
 produced above are fufficient to make it probable, that ele- 
 phants likewife are fubjecSl to migrations, either from fome 
 motive equally unknown with that of the lemings, or for 
 certain reafons which offer, as it were, of themfelves to 
 our conje6tures : for inllance, a confiderable increafe in 
 the number of thefe animals, their want of food, the in- 
 conveniencies attending an unufually dry and hot feafon, 
 their being molefted by mankind, or affrighted by the 
 eruptions of volcanos and earthquakes in their native foil. 
 I put the too great increafe of the elephants in the firft 
 place, on account of the almoft incredible number one fees 
 at the Cape of Good Hope^ as well as the many centuries 
 this animal is faid to live. If moreover we affume the 
 hypothefis, that the fouth-eaft part of Afia, which is at 
 prefent inhabited by a numerous and prolific race of men, 
 viz. the Chinefe, had been as favourable to the in- 
 creafe of elephants, more efpecially in the firfl ages of the 
 world, which are fuppofed to have been the moft fertile 
 in all the produ6lions of nature ; it will naturally follow, 
 that the numbers of thefe animals would, fome time or 
 
 other,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 341 
 
 other, have received fo great an augmentation, that the ., '775- 
 
 ' 00' November. 
 
 fcarcity of food, and the mutvial conflicts between different ^.•vO 
 herds of elephants, mnft have obhged fonie of them to feek 
 their fubiillence elfewhere. 
 
 Dry and hot fummers would naturally have increafed this 
 deficiency of food for elephants, and accelerated their re- 
 moval ; and. at the fame time,, for the fake of coolnefs, de- 
 termined their courfe towards the north, and finally to Si- 
 beria. I am very ready to believe with natural philofo- 
 phers, that this latter country was formerly not fo cold 
 as it is at prefent; but cannot fuppofe it to have been by 
 any means warm enough to harbour elephants, excepting 
 indeed in fummer time, as it is well known, that our 
 Lapland fummers, though fliort, are yet extremely warm. 
 
 Swarms of elephants having thus, for one or inore caufes, 
 left their native habitations, and by degrees, or, perhaps, 
 by a hafly and fudden removal, having arrived at a great 
 diitance from it, in more fevere climates, and been there 
 overtaken by a cold autumn or winter, it would be no won- 
 der, if they had got out of their latitude, and fpread them- 
 felves flill farther into Siberia and the neighbouring coun- 
 tries ; and there having periflied, have been buried at greater 
 or lefs depths by earthquakes, by the falling in of fleep 
 mouittains, and by rivers changing their courfe, and at 
 length have left to inquifitive poflerity evident monuments 
 of their migrations. 
 
 A journey of about twenty-five or thirty degrees, or 
 about one thoufand one hundred and forty miles, between 
 China and Siberia, cannot be looked upon as long for ele.- 
 
 phants^.
 
 54^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- phants, as I have already obferved at p. 334, that thefe 
 sSy^^' animals can with eafe travel to the extent of a degree, or 
 twenty leagues in a day, or fometimes twice as much : and, 
 indeed, according to UAfrique de Marmol, Tom. I. p. 58, 
 when they are put to it, they will make, in the fpace of 
 one day, lix days journey. 
 
 By the account I have given of the elephants at the Gape, 
 I find that I have been induced to dwell with fome pro- 
 lixity on the hiftory of this animal. I would therefore wdfh, 
 in order to make it the more complete, to quote from different 
 naturalifts and writers of travels fome remarkable paiTages, 
 which tend greatly to illuftrate the underftanding and dif- 
 polition of the elephant. 
 
 " In India they were once employed in launching of 
 ihips. One w^as diredled to force a very large veffel into 
 the water ; the work proved fuperior to his ftrength ; his 
 miafter, with a farcaftic tone, bid the keeper take away this 
 lazy beafl-, and bring another in his ftead ; the poor ani- 
 mal inftantly repeated his efforts, fradlured his fcull, and 
 died on the fpot." (Pennant's HiJI, of Sluad. p. 155, 
 from LuDOLPH. Com, in Hift, ALtbiop,) 
 
 ** In Belli an elephant, paffing along the ftreets, put his 
 trunk into a taylor's Ihop, where feveral people were at 
 work; one of them pricked the end of it with his needle. 
 The beaft paffed on, but in the next dirty puddle filled 
 his trunk with water, returned to the (hop, and fpurting 
 every drop among the people who had offended him, Ipoilt 
 their work." (Penn. L c, from Hamilton's Hiftory of 
 the East-Indies.) 
 
 « An
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 343 
 
 " An elephant in Adfjueer^ which often paflTed through j^ ^775- 
 the bazar or market, as he went by a certain herb-woman, ^./-v-^ 
 ahvays received from her a mouthful of greens. At length 
 he was fei?:ed with one of his periodical fits of rage, broke 
 i"rom his fetters, and running tiirough the market, put 
 .the crowd to, night ; and among others this w^oman, who 
 -in hafte forgot a little child flie had brought with her. 
 The animal, recolle6ling the fpot where his benefadlrefs 
 v,-as wont to fit, took up the infant gently in his trunk, 
 arid .placed it in f^fety on a Itall before a neighbouring 
 hoiiie,..'' ^ .(Pi>NN. from Terry's Voyage.') 
 
 " Another in Bekan not having received the arrack it 
 had been promifed by its comae or governor, by way of 
 revenge killed him. The comae's wife, who was an eye- 
 witnefs to this, took l>er two children and flung them be- 
 fore the elephant, faying, Now you have deftroyed their 
 father, you may as well put an end to their lives and 
 mine. It inflantly flopped, relented, took the greatetf of . 
 the children, placed him on; its neck, adopted him for its 
 cornac, and never afterwards would permit any body elfe 
 to mount it." (Buffon, Tom. XL p. 77, from the Mar- 
 quis De Montmirail. 
 
 If the elephant is of a revengeful difpofltion, it is like- 
 wife equally rem.arkable for gratitude. A foidier at Pon- 
 dicherry, who was accuftomed, whenever he received the 
 portion that came to his fliare, to carry a certain quantity 
 of it to one of thefe animals, having one day drank rather 
 too freely, and finding himfelf purfued by the guards, 
 who were going to take him to prifon, took refuge un- 
 der the elephant's body and fell aileep. In vain did the 
 4 guard
 
 344 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775. guard try to force him from this afykim, as the elephant 
 v^^^^JJl^' prote6ted him with his trunk. The next morning the 
 foldier, recovering from his drunken fit, fhuddered with 
 horror to find himfelf flretched under the helly of this 
 huge animal. The elephant, which, without doubt, per- 
 ceived the man's embarraffment, carefTed him with his 
 trunk, in order to infpire him with courage, and make 
 ^him underftand, that he might now depart in fafety. 
 .(BUFFON, p. 78.) 
 
 A painter was defirous of drawing the elephant which 
 was kept in the menagerie at Verfailles in an uncommon 
 attitude, which was that of holding his trunk raifed up in 
 the air with his mouth open. The painter's boy, in or- 
 -der to keep the animal in this poflure, threw fruit into 
 -his mouth ; but as the lad frequently deceived him, and 
 made an offer only of throwing him the fruit, he 
 grew angry; and, as if he had known, that the painter's in- 
 tention of drawing him was the caufe of the affront that 
 was offered him, inflead of revenging himfelf on the lad, 
 he turned his refentment on the mafler, and taking up a 
 quantity of water in his trunk, threw it on the paper on 
 which the painter was drawing, and fpoiled it. {Mem. pour 
 fervir a rH'ifl. des Animauxy par MeJJieurs de PAcad, des 
 Sciences y Part III.) 
 
 On the 4th Vv'e came to Leeuwejt-bofcb, a little wood fo 
 called, on a river of the fame name, from the circumftance 
 of its having been formerly in a peculiar manner inhabit- 
 ed by lions. At this time there lived here a Have of each 
 fex, for the purpofe of tending a few cattle belonging to 
 2. farmer, and of preferving the corn-fields from the in- 
 roads
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 345 
 
 roads of the gazels. The flave's hut compofed.the whole j^J^775^^^ 
 of the buildings on the premifes, beiides an open fhed, v^^v^^ 
 under which we took, our night's lodging. 
 
 On the 5 th we entered into Sitftcamma^ where we vilit- 
 ed the three firft farmers that lay in our road. As in this 
 province there were various unknown plants, and no natu- 
 ralifl had been there before us, we ftaid there till the 
 1 2 th, when we took our departure, and fet off for Zee^ 
 koe^ or Sea-cow-river; and finally, from the 15th to the 
 concluiion of the month, took up our lodging in a farm 
 fituated at the lower or fouthern ferry-place of this river. 
 
 On the eaftern lide of Leeuwen-bofcb the country may be 
 faid to be a champain or open country, the long range of ' 
 hills, by the fide of which w^e had travelled all the way 
 from the Cape, terminated here, or elfe running on to 
 the north. This tradt of land feems to come under the 
 charadler I have given of the Szveet grafs-fields and plains 
 towards the lliore. The fame may be faid of the hither , 
 
 part of Sitficamma^ which, efpecially near the fliore, was 
 extremely low and fandy. 
 
 The myrica cerifera is likewife to be found here, as 
 well as at the Duyven^ or Doves, as they are called at the 
 Cape. The greenifli wax-like and tallowy fubllance, with 
 which at a certain time of the year the berries are cover- 
 ed, and wMch is probably formed by infe6ts, being ufed 
 by the inhabitants for making candles, which burn rather 
 better than thofe prepared from tallow. 
 
 On the plains I faw numerous herds of the antUope 
 dorcas^ (or hartbeejl^ vide Plate L Vol. II.) and likewile faw 
 \\\Q gnometie^ or little gazel, I fpoke of at p. 279. 
 
 Vol. I. Yy The
 
 346 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 17/ 5- The interior part of Sitficamma is faid to confill of an im- 
 
 November. /- n i • n i 
 
 V^vx.^ penetrable foreft. Two Hottentots, who wilhed to penetrated, 
 through it from the Houtniquas lide, are faid to have been] 
 obhged, after having made a fmitlefs attempt during ten o 
 twelve days, to turn back again, happy to have reached home 
 in fafety. They perceived a great number of elephants, 
 with feveral broad beaten tracks made by thefe animals, 
 but which extended only from north to fouth, fo as to ter- 
 minate and lofe themfelves in thick woods either near the 
 lliore, or at the range of mountains which feparates Sit- 
 ficamma from Houtniquas. Buffaloes are likewife found 
 there in great numbers. 
 
 Kromme-rivier itfelf at its mouth, or where it empties it- 
 felf into the fea, is very broad and deep; fo that fhips might 
 lie at anchor in it very commodioufly, if the fea-breezes- 
 and the furge, which, probably, are every day varying the 
 fhape of this coaft, had not blocked up the mouth of it. 
 
 Zeekoe-rivier^ which in feveral places had been deep 
 enough to harbour a great number of thofe large animals 
 cviWGd fea-cowSy {hippopotamus amphibius^ PlateIV.Vol.il.) 
 from which it derives its name, we now found fo much 
 choaked up with fand near the fea-fide, that we could 
 go over it dry-lhod. 
 
 In Kromme-rivier, the farmer that lived on the fpot had 
 brought thofe animals to be fo familiar, that I fav/ them 
 fwimming up and down the river in broad day-light, and 
 often Itick their noflrils up out of the water, in order to 
 blow themfelves or take breath. 
 
 On the heights near the upper farm on Zeekoe-rivier 
 grew the bread-tree {brood-boorn) of the Hottentots, difco- 
 
 vered
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 347 
 
 vered bv Profeflbr Thunberg, and of which he has eiven ,, ':'/ v 
 
 *-* November, 
 
 a defcription and drawing by the name of Cycas Caffra^ in v^^'v^ 
 the Nova ABa Reg, Soc, Scient. Up/, Vol. II. p. 283. 
 Tab. V. The pith or marrow (medulla) which abounds 
 in the trunk of this little palm, is collecfted and tied up in 
 drefTed calf or fheep-fkins, and then buried in the earth for 
 the fpace of feveral weeks, till it becomes fufTiciently mel- 
 low and tender to be kneaded up with water into a pafle, of 
 which they afterwards make fmall loaves or cakes, and bake 
 them under the allies. (For a fuller defcription of this vide 
 1. c.) Other Hottentots, not quite fo nice, nor endued 
 with patience enough to wait this tedious method of pre- 
 paring it, are faid to dry and roaft the marrow, and after- 
 -wards make a kind of brown frumenty of it. This cycas^ 
 ^rows likewife near the Drie Fonteins in Lange-kloof, 
 
 In all Sitficamma there were but eight farms. Among 
 other rare and curious vegetables, it is faid there is a kind 
 of fig-tree in the woods here, which is of a lofty gigan- 
 tic growth, W'ith undivided leaves ; and the fruit of it is as 
 good, if not better, than that produced from thofe which 
 are cultivated in our gardens. 
 
 At Slangen-rivier^ two years before my arrival in thefe 
 parts, a fliip is faid to have fent a boat afliore, the crew 
 of which filled feveral caiks with water ; and afterwards, 
 going directly on board the fliips, fet fail before any of 
 the colonifls could come up to fpeak wdth them. Having 
 had an opportunity of taking obfervations on, and of laying 
 down on my map a long tradt of the coaft between Sitjt^ 
 camma and Zondags-rivier, and being obliged to beflow 
 names on two remarkable points projeding from it, I 
 
 Y y 2 thought
 
 348 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^^iis- thought proper to name them after two experienced Swedifli 
 C^rv^ navigators, who at the fame time have deferved the ap- 
 probation of the pubhc by the charts they have given of 
 the African coaft, I mean the Captains Ekeberg and 
 BuRTZ. The former has given the world a good chart 
 and defcription of Table and Falfe-bays, The other in his 
 later voyages has added to the obfervations made by the 
 former gentleman upon thefe places, and has extremely 
 well laid down the coaft between Mojfel-bay and the Cape ; 
 during the period that, being on his return from China in 
 the Swedifh Eaft-Indiaman, the Stockholm Slotty he had 
 the misfortune to be detained for a conliderable length of 
 time by contrary winds, in confequence of his fliip's hav- 
 ing loft her rudder. Captain Burtz likewife kindly com- 
 municated to me the views of the country as they are feen 
 from the fea, which are placed at the top of my map. 
 
 The little ifland which I have placed near Point Eke- 
 berg I have, in fa6t, never feen myfelf, but thought it 
 right, at all events, to lay down on that fpot, as Captain 
 Burtz was induced by an old Portuguefe chart, that gives 
 a tolerable idea of the coaft, to conclude, that the bay called 
 in it Bay-cojiflant, where there is a little ifland near the 
 point, is the fame inlet that I have laid down near Ki'oimne- 
 rivier\ fo that, being on fhore, I poffibly might not be 
 fituated fo as to fee the ifland diftindt from the conJ:inent. 
 
 Here it is likewife neceffary to remark, that all the 
 maps and charts of the eaftern coaft of Africa hitherto 
 known, are faulty in making the extent of it to the eaft- 
 ward much lefs than it really is, and than I found it to 
 be in my journey over land. 1 am likewife fenftble,, thr.t 
 
 many
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 349 
 
 many navigators have, in the courfe of their voyages, taken ^^^J^{^^^ 
 notice of the fame error ; and among them Captain Cook, V^^y^^ 
 at the time when, being on his return from his firft voyage 
 round the globe in the Endeavour, he fell in with this 
 coaft unaw^ares. Moreover, during our ftay near Sea-cow- 
 river, a fhip was feen one evening under full fail making 
 diredlly for the fhore, and did not tack about till flie was 
 almoft too near. I afterwards learnt at the Cape, that 
 this was a Dutch vefTel ; and that from the chart flie car- 
 ried with her, flie had not expecfhed to come upon the 
 coaft nearly fo foon, nor had fhe perceived it till jiift be- 
 fore file had tacked about. My hoft, who, while the vef- 
 fel was hovering about the coall, had rode along with me 
 to a part of the fliore higher than the reft, could diftin- 
 guilh the fhip's crew from thence; but it feems that none 
 of them faw us, probably on account of fome mift or ex- 
 halation proceeding from the land. 
 
 I remember to have read fomewhere in an Englifli Ma- 
 gazine an account of the Doddington, an Englifli Eaft-India- 
 man, having fuffered fhipwreck on an ifland or rock lituated 
 in 33 i deg. or, more probably, 3218. lat. near the 
 eaftern coaft of Africa. This account mentions, that two 
 perfons rowed in a IkifF from the wreck to the continent, 
 where, as foon as they arrived, which was towards the 
 evening, wearied out with hard labour, they turned the 
 boat topfy turvy, and crept under it in order to go to reft ; 
 notwithftanding which they were in great danger from the 
 wild beafts, (probably tbce hyccnas or tiger-zvolvesy v/hich 
 endeavoured to fqueeze themfelves in under the boat in 
 order to get at them.. The next morning, they met with 
 
 the
 
 350 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1775- the wild inhabitants of the country, (in all likelihood the 
 \^^i^^^' BopieS'tnen) ^vho took from them a brace of piflols and their 
 clothes ; though after a little conlideration, and on the 
 failors earneflly entreating them on their knees, they fufFer- 
 ed them to keep their boat and oars, and return to their 
 difaftrous ifland, as to an afylum ; whence they at length, 
 together with fome more of the crew, proceeded in a bark 
 made out of the wreck to the northward, and came to a 
 nation that abounded in cattle and elephants teeth, (pro- 
 bably the CafFres) where they were very kindly received, 
 See. On recolle6ting myfelf, and comparing this account 
 with one I had from the colonifts, it appears to me that 
 this fliip was wrecked right before the mouth of Zondags^ 
 7'ivier ; as about twenty or thirty years ago, a fmoke was 
 feen proceeding from the ifland Htuated there. A farmer 
 of the name of Vereira, who at that time was a hunting 
 of elephants in this diftri^t, had bought of the Hottentots 
 a piftol and a piece of red cloth, which they faid they had 
 got of fome people who had come to them from fea. The 
 colonifts likewife informed me, that a year after this event, 
 a dogger was fent from the Cape, at the requeft of the 
 Englifh Eaft-India company, in order to fearch for the 
 above-mentioned illands, and the goods that were left 
 there ; but that the captain came back, as they thought 
 on purpofe, without executing his commiflion. It per- 
 haps would ftill pay for the labour to build a boat at Zon- 
 dags-rivier^ with a view to fearch for thefe fmall iflands ; but 
 in order for people coming from the fea to find them, it 
 would be necefTary that fomebody fliould have previoufly 
 obferved the true latitude on the continent diredly oppo- 
 
 fite
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 351 
 
 fite to them ; after which, by making fignals by fires, the j^-J/^^^^^j. 
 fame place might eafily be difcovered. I often faw the K^y^^ 
 above-mentioned illands from Po^^t Padron in the harbour 
 of Krakekamma, 
 
 The farm near Sea-cow-river^ where we took up our 
 head quarters from the 15th to the 30th, belonged to an 
 honeft old colonift, by nation, if I remember right, a Heffian. 
 He was a fenlible, acflive, ingenious man, and confequently 
 had got his farm into the bell order; upon which he 
 had built many more tenements, than we had feen on any 
 farm we had hitherto vifited in the whole courfe of our 
 journey. The main body of the houfe alone confifted of 
 fix rooms. He had a great number of Hottentot fervants, 
 as well as cattle ; but had laid the foundation of his for- 
 tune by hunting elephants. Having been a great traveller 
 himfelf in his youth, he wifhed to render us every lervice 
 that lay in his power ; offering to allifl us with a good 
 Hottentot guide, who was at the fame time an excellent 
 fhot, as foon as he heard that we intended to expofe our- 
 felves to all the dangers and hardfliips that might arife in 
 the courfe of an expedition of one hundred leagues, be- 
 tween that place and Brunt jes Hoogte^ for the fake of bota- - 
 nizing and hunting. But, unluckily for us, the corn-har- 
 veft was now approaching, it beginning on the 23d of this 
 month ; befides which, many of his Hottentot labourers^ 
 were laid up with a bilious fever. 
 
 I was therefore obliged to wait till the harvefl was over, 
 and to forward it with all the affiftance my Hottentots could 
 give. In the mean time he delegated to me the province 
 of attending and curing the fick, and that with the greater 
 
 confi-
 
 35^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^, *77.^- confidence, as I had jufl before made two female Malabar 
 
 rovember. *^ 
 
 ^./-Y-o Haves belonging to a neighbour of his, find their legs again, 
 who, out of mere idlenefs, had kept their beds for fever al 
 days under pretence of illnefs. Three Haves of the fame 
 nation, likewife belonging to this neighbour of his, alfo 
 recovered by my afliftance from a bilious fever ; one of 
 them, who had but jufl before fallen ill, w^as cured by a 
 flrong decodlion of tobacco, the only emetic I jufl then 
 had at hand. She bore, however, feveral tea-cups full of 
 this difgufling liquor before it operated. The other two, 
 who had lain above twelve days, at lail got over the difor- 
 der by an alteration in their diet ; but two other Haves, 
 who ^vere likewife Malabars, had juft before died here of the 
 fame fever. A violent bleeding at the nofe was faid to have 
 fupervened a fliort time before death, and immediately after 
 it the gall guflied out in great quantities through their nof- 
 trils ; a circumftance, to which the afliflants, very injudici- 
 oufly keeping the frefli air from them with the greateft 
 care, by covering them up with the bed-clothes and fliut- 
 ting the doors quite clofe, did not a little contribute. 
 
 With the Chriftians the diforder was at the height on 
 the third day, but with the flaves and Hottentots on the 
 fifth or feventh. 
 
 I obferved that the Hottentots complained much of a 
 pain in their heads and necks, and fometimes in their 
 fhoulders. This pain vanifhed and moved downwards into 
 their arms and legs, (fo that they were not able to fland) 
 as foon as the diforder changed for the better, which moftly 
 happened after the adminiftration of emetics, hi a Chriflian 
 girl the crifis came on with violent pains in the feet. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 3S3 
 
 The pulfe was, it muft be owned, tolerably high ; thofe j^^J//^^^^ 
 that tried venefedlion, however, obtained no relief from it, ^.*^v>te^ 
 and were, notwith Handing, troubled with a bleeding at the 
 nofe in the courfe of the diforder. The whites of the eyes 
 remained yellow a long while, excepting in fuch as had 
 vomited fufficiently, and by that means a metaftafis of the 
 pains was made from the neck to the legs and feet. The 
 fick Hottentots belonging to my laft hoft Jacob Kok, who 
 had been jufl captured, and, by pafling into his fervice, 
 had made too fudden a tranfition from their favage man- 
 ner of living, bore very dangerous dofes before they could 
 be made to vomit. For this purpofe, befides the tobacco, 
 I made ufe of vinum emetictimy feu aqua bened'iBa rulandi^ 
 which I prepared according to the Difpenfary of the Lon^ 
 don college for 1762, viz. two ounces of croc» antim, I0U 
 in a bottle of common Cape wine. 
 
 Though iixty drops of this was fufEcient to caufe a pretty 
 violent vomiting in a Hottentot girl of fifteen years of age^ 
 brought up from her infancy among the Chriflians, and 
 like wife in feveral adults, that made ufe of it at the Cape, 
 yet four ounces had not the leaft effecSt on three Hottentot 
 girls of about the fame age, whom I had under my care all at 
 one time ; I was obliged, therefore, to force them to fwallow 
 pieces of fliag tobacco in fubflance, and to drink feveral batons 
 of the tobacco decodtion, before I could bring them to vomit. 
 
 To two flender and diminutive youths, who were newly 
 captured, I gave, by degrees, feveral fpoonfuls of the aqua 
 benediSIa above-mentioned, till each of them had taken 
 about two ounces of it, after which it began to operate. 
 A youth of about twenty years of age, who had been very 
 
 Vol. L Z z lately
 
 354 
 
 1775- 
 November. 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 lately caught, took eleven grains of gummi gutta^ but did not 
 fcem to feel the leafl effe6t from it ; upon w hich I gave him, 
 as well as to an old Hottentot newly captured, forty and above 
 years of age, (both of them lean and llender) feveral tea- 
 cups full of the aqua benediBa^ which was now very thick 
 and full of fediment, taking care at the fame time to fnake 
 up all the crocus of antimony from the bottom of the bottle. 
 At firil I trembled myfelf for the confequences which might 
 enfue from fuch large dofes, but found that they had very lit- 
 tle effedt, till I let the patient fwallow, all at once, a foot at 
 lead in fubftance of tobacco cut in pieces, and drink feveral 
 large bafons full of a ftrong infulion of tobacco, and at the 
 fame time fwallow down the tobacco of which the infufion 
 was made. Nay, I was obliged into the bargain, to empty 
 Mr. Immelman's fnufi-box into the throat of the younger 
 of them, in order to encourage the vomiting : the opera- 
 tion was for all that very moderate in this cafe ; otherwife, 
 the more bile the patients vomited, the fooner they got 
 well, viz. in the fpace of about two or three days. 
 
 A fat bouncing Hottentot woman, who had been feveral 
 years with the Chriftians, either feigned or fancied herfelf 
 fick. I have great reafon to believe, that flie pretended to 
 be fo, in order to have the pleafure of fwallowing the pieces 
 of tobacco, and the tobacco deco6lion, which I fo liberally 
 diftributed on this occafion. Here it mull be obferved, that 
 I placed the fick in the fhade near the front door, and ad- 
 miniftered the medicines myfelf, in order to be able to 
 judge the better of their operation ; but muft confefs, that 
 I was amazed to find thefe people's llomachs require fuch 
 large dofes of fo bitter and ftrong a poifon, as is tobacco. 
 
 Though,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 355 
 
 Though, in fact, it is to the full as aftoniihing, to fee the 
 coloiiifts, particularly fuch of them as have been bred in 
 India, eat greedily of fo pungent and fiery a fubilance as raw 
 capficum, juft as if it was a piece of bread or a fweet-meat. 
 As a preferv^ative for the health, I made every body in the 
 family take a fpoonful of vinegar, with frefli rue, failing ; 
 after which, nobody was attacked with the diforder. 
 
 On the 29th, the Hottentots in the neighbourhood alk- 
 ed the permilTion of their mafters to have a ball and dance, 
 in compliment to my Hottentots, who had rendered them 
 the efTential fervice of affifting them in getting in their 
 corn, and were now fhortly going away. Their requefl 
 was granted, and as foon as the moon began to fhine, the 
 ball was opened al frefco. About twenty perfons of both 
 fexes joined in this dance, which was kept up till paft mid- 
 night with the greatell fpirit ; and, indeed, I may fay, 
 without the leaft intermiffion. The ball, however, did 
 not finifli with this ; but they went afterwards under co- 
 ver, and, fitting all round in a ring, kept fwinging the 
 upper part of their bodies backwards and forwards with a 
 How and even motion, linging all the while in a dull mo- 
 notonous manner. A drelTed fkin was llretched over a 
 kettle, on which they drummed with their fingers, in 
 unifon with the voice. 
 
 The Hottentot woman, who had made or fancied 
 herfelf fick, in order to get fome of the tobacco decodlion, 
 feemed to be the principal perfon that had the diredion of 
 the dancing, as well as the mufic, vocal and inftrumental. 
 Should the reader wifli for a more particular defcription of 
 this dance, I can fay little elfe concerning it, than that 
 
 Z z 2 it
 
 356 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »77?- it is not to be defcribed, at leaft not in all its different 
 
 November. • i • t t •» -r 
 
 \^yy>u figures and movements. Neither, mdeeq, do I conceive, 
 that it was confined to any particular rules ; the chief in- 
 tention feeming to be, to put the body into motion : for 
 which purpofe, every body hopped and jumped about both 
 by themfelves, and occafionally with each other; and doubt- 
 lefs with the fame intentions they wreathed, twined, and 
 tvvifted their bodies into every droll and uncommon atti- 
 tude their fancy led them to. Though, perhaps, a Hot- 
 tentot might be induced to form the fame opinion of our 
 mofl fafliionable dances. In the mean time it is pofli- 
 ble, that the Hottentot dance I have been endeavouring to 
 give fome idea of, was not totally without art in its kind, 
 as my Hottentots from Buffeljagts-rivier faid they had never 
 feen fuch a one before, and that they were not capable of 
 joining in it. Our hoil and hoftefs, who like wife looked 
 on for a time, pointed out to me, however, two of their 
 country dances ; one was called the baboon-dance, in which 
 they imitated baboons or apes : this, as well as the others, 
 was diftinguillied by a thoufand grimaces, the performers 
 now and then, moreover, going upon all fours. The other 
 was called the bee-dance, in imitation of a fwarm of bees. 
 In this every performer now appeared to make a buzzing 
 noife. In this manner the ball continued till day-break, 
 when the greater part of the dancers were obliged to re- 
 turn to their daily labours. 
 
 I likewife at this time faw an inftance of the polygamy 
 pra6tiled by the Hottentots, a pra6lice, however, which is 
 faid to be very rare among them. An old Hottentot had 
 married tv/o wives, and feemed in a manner very proud of 
 
 the
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 357- 
 
 the pofTeflion of them, as doing credit to his manhood. I ^^T^L 
 was informed, however, that the ladies very often quar- 's.-^'-O 
 relied, and not unfrequently came to blows ; and that when 
 their fpoufe went to part them, they ufed both with one 
 accord to fall upon him, and wreak their vengeance upon 
 his hair.-^In thefe times, when the Hottentots for the 
 greater part are flaves, it is not to be wondered at, that 
 their manners are fubjedl to changes. In the mean while 
 I could not get any intelligence to be depended upon, how 
 far polygamy had been formerly more or lefs practifed. 
 The marriage ceremonies among the Bofliies-men, are faid 
 to be no other than fuch as are inevitably neceiTary and 
 agreeable to nature, viz. the agreement of the parties and 
 confummation. 
 
 My holt and hoflefs, who twenty years before had lived 
 nearer to the Cape, viz. at Groo^ Vaders Bofcby told me 
 they believed the report, that a mafter of the ceremonies 
 performed the matrimonial rites, by the immediate con- 
 fperlion of the bride and bridegroom with his own water, 
 was not without foundation ; but that this was pra(ftiled 
 only within their craals, and never in the prefence of any of 
 the colonifls. My Hottentots, whom I frequently queflioned 
 upon this fubjedl, chofe neither to confefs the fact, nor ab- 
 folutely to deny it, lb that probably this ufage is llill re- 
 tained in fome craals. 
 
 That the funeral ceremonies are alike with every diffe- 
 rent tribe of Hottentots, we are well afTured, as likewife that 
 they are condudled in the following manner. The deceafed 
 is thruft either naked or with his cloak on, into fome hole 
 in the earth, or liibterraneous pafTage, where they gene- 
 rally
 
 35*8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^'"75- rally become a prev to fome wild beaft. However, they 
 
 November. y x . * 
 
 V.^rY-0 ufually ftufF a large bundle of bruili-wood, or bufhes, in- 
 
 ■ to the aperture of this hole or paffage. 
 
 I was very afliduous in my enquiries, in how far it was 
 true, that the Hottentots fecluded from fociety fuch as were 
 old and helplefs. The only perfon that could give me any 
 inilance of this cuftom being pra6lifed, was my hoft. In his 
 younger days, being out a hunting in Krakekamjna^ \\\ com- 
 pany with one Vander Wat, with whom I was likewife 
 acquainted, they obferved in the extenfive defert plains of 
 that diftridt, a little narrow flip enclofed with bufhes and 
 brambles. Their curiofity being excited, they rode up to 
 it, and found within it an old blind female Hottentot, who, 
 at hrft, as foon as flie heard the Chriftians coming, en- 
 deavoured to crawl away and hide herfelf ; but afterwards 
 made her appearance, though witii a very four afpedl : fhe 
 confefTed, however, that flie had been left to her fate by 
 the inhabitants of her clan. But neither did flie defire 
 nor receive any afliflance from thefe Chriftians, nor, in- 
 deed, had they made any enquiries whether this was done 
 with or againft her confent. 
 
 Calling afterwards at the craal flie belonged to, all the in- 
 formation they got there was, that the old woman had ac- 
 tually been left there in that manner by them. With 
 refpedt to any conveniencies fhe might have about her, 
 they could perc€ive nothing, but a trough which contain- 
 ed a little water. 
 
 Another cuftom, no lefs horrid, which has hitherto been 
 
 remarked by no one, but which I had fully confirmed to 
 
 nie, is, that the Hottentots are accuftomed to inter, in cafe of 
 
 6 - the
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 359 
 
 the mother's death, children at the breafl ahve. That ^^To/ember. 
 very year, and on the very fpot, where I then dwelt, juft ^^-^-v^ 
 before my arrival, there had been the following in- 
 ftance of it : 
 
 A Hottentot woman at this farm had died of the epidemic 
 fever. The other Hottentots, who did not imagine that 
 they fhoiild be able, neither did they chufe to rear the fe- 
 male infant fhe had left behind her, had already wrapt it 
 in a flieep-fkin alive, in order to bury it, together with its 
 deceafed mother; when they were prevented from accom- 
 plifhing their purpofe, by fome of the farmers in the neigh- 
 bourhood. The child, however, died foon after of con- 
 \Tilfions. My hoftefs, who at this time was rather ia 
 years, informed me, that about fixteen or feventeen years 
 before, flie had lighted upon a Hottentot infant in the 
 diftrid: of Zwellendam,, which was bundled up in ftcins in 
 the manner above-mentioned, and tied faft to a bufli,, 
 near where the child's mother had been newly buried. 
 The infant had fo much life left, as to be in a condition 
 to be recovered. It was afterwards brought up by Mrs. 
 Kok's parents, but died at the age of eight or nine years. 
 From feveral inftances of this kind related to me bv others 
 it follows, that children are never interred alive, or ex- 
 pofed, but wdien their neareft relatives, who are their 
 natural guardians, are dead : fo that I think we may con- 
 clude from this, that even fuperannuated people are never 
 expofed, but in cafe of their having no children nor near 
 relations to take care of them : and as thefe cafes may oc- 
 cur but feldom, it is not to be wondered at if this prac- 
 tice fliould come to be lefs in vogue, and if confequently 
 
 we
 
 360 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^, '77J- we fhoiild not fo often hear of it. In the mean time, what- 
 
 November. 
 
 ^-/-Y-\J foever it be that has given rife to this cuftom, yet we 
 that have the happinefs of being in a more civiUzed Hate, 
 have certainly not without reafon accufed the Hottentots 
 of inhumanity on this occaiion. Still, however, they de- 
 ferve rather to be pitied, than to be reviled and loaded with 
 reproaches on this account ; for on refle6ting a little, we 
 lliould, perhaps, find, that too many perfons, even in our 
 boafted civilized focieties, are left almoft deftitute and un- 
 alTifted ; or, perhaps, are entirely abandoned to their dread- 
 ful fate. Indeed I fear, that if we were fairly and ftri6lly 
 to compare the failings and crimes of the Hottentots witl^ 
 thofe of civilized nations, the iffue would turn out very 
 little to the honour of either, and ftill lefs to that of the 
 latter. And in fa6t, if we impartially confider the con- 
 du6t of mankind in a general view, we fhall not, per- 
 haps, find great reafon to flatter it : neither, indeed, would 
 this be the way eflentially to ferve our fellow-creatures, 
 as felf-love and flattery, it is allowed on all hands, renders 
 us dangerous enemies to ourfelves ; and the cafe is jufl the 
 fame with regard to mankind in general. 
 
 On the 30th, or the day after the ball, we prepared for 
 our departure. Our hoft, who had hitherto entertained 
 us in a remarkably hofpitable manner, was even more 
 than commonly careful to provide us with every thing 
 that he thought we fliould want on our journey. With 
 this view, he lent me a couple of good ferviceable draught- 
 oxen, in the place of two of mine; one of which could 
 not be made ufe of, on account of its having been bit by 
 £ ferpent, nor the other by reafon of its being in a very 
 
 bad
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOP E/ 361 
 
 bad condition. He likewife, as I mentioned before, com- .r'-''^^: 
 
 ' ' November. 
 
 plimented us with his beft Hottentot, whofe name was ^*^v-0 
 Plattje, and whom he had ahvays taken with him him- 
 felf, in feveral hunting parties he had made up the country, 
 to carry his arms for him, and aflift in killing the game. 
 
 Our hoftefs, who was very well apprized that we fliould 
 not often find a table ready fpread for us in a defert of an hun- 
 dred uurs in length, and that game did not always abound 
 there, made up an excellent viaticum for us, confifting of a 
 box full of bifcuits, ten pounds of butter, and a large wether 
 cut in pieces and falted in its own iMn; which, after being 
 taken off, was tied up again at each end with the meat in it, 
 fo as to ferve for a fack. The rell of our provifion confifl- 
 ed of two loaves of coarfe bread, together with a bag of flour 
 for my Hottentots, who at this time were three in number. 
 
 During our abode here we found a vail number of in- 
 fedls, and many fpecies which we had not feen before. 
 Among all thefe, what moll excited my admiration was a 
 termes. On a warm day, about the conclufion of the 
 month, (I forgot to let down precifely the day) there came 
 out of the earth in feveral places thoufands of white in- 
 feds, in fhape fomewhat refembling ants. Some of thefe 
 were about half an inch long, and had each of them four 
 wings, with which they foon began to fly about, and 
 fwarm round each other in the air like ephemeras, though 
 they were not obferved to coj^ulate. When caught, their 
 wings came off remarkably eafily, efpecially if they 
 were not taken the greateft care of. Their bodies were 
 milk-white, and extremely foft, fo that one could 
 eafily fqueeze a white liquor out of them. During this, 
 
 Vo L. I. A a a I like-
 
 362 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^, ^"7?- I like wife faw thoufands of fmaller infedls or ants, but with- 
 
 November. 
 
 C^vv.^ out wings, making their way out of the holes the former had 
 juft made in the earth. Thefe feemed very eaiily enraged, 
 and were apt to bite ; the heads were likewdfe larger in 
 proportion, and their jaws were more pointed and fharper 
 than thofe of the former. I colledled a fufTicient quantity 
 of both forts, in order to prefent them to my entomological 
 friends, and particularly the largefl of them to Baron dk 
 Geer, who has adopted them, in Tom. VII. of his Me- 
 moirs, p. 47. Plate XXXVIII , Fig. i — 4. by the name 
 iermes Capenfe, This illuftrious author has the greater 
 reafon to call them by the name of termes, as he himfelf, 
 as w^ell as Mr. Frish, has difcovered a termes with the ru- 
 diments of wrings. 
 
 It was at the diflance of a mile and a half from the farm, 
 on rather a woody fpot, that I difcovered the termes Capenfe^ 
 and obferved them piercing the ground in feveral places, and 
 with great impatience making their way through the furface. 
 As I was at that time taken up in attending my Hottentot 
 patients, the greater part of thefe animals difappeared by 
 the next morning, when I got back to the place of their 
 transformation ; fo that I could make no farther obferva- 
 tion on the ceconomy of thefe infedls, which, in all pro- 
 bability, is highly wonderful. Neither can I fay with 
 ^ny certainty, whether this termes Capenfis be the fame 
 fpecies with the white ants, (as they are called) which 
 build and inhabit thofe dark -grey hillocks of earth from 
 three to four feet high, which I mentioned before, that the 
 fugitive Boihies-men in Lange-kloof frequently explored to 
 no manner of purpofe : for feveral times, when I had an 
 8 opportunity,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 363 
 
 opportunitv, or gave myfelf time to break into them, (and ,, 'wv 
 
 \ ^ ' ^ November 
 
 that not \\-ithout lome trouble) in order to examine them, w^nrO 
 I had the mortification to find the birds fled. But in the 
 ant-hills or clumps of earth of about a foot high, which 
 I exi^lored on the mountains in Falje-bay^ I found a grey- 
 coloured kind of termes, or, as it is there called, pifmire, 
 fomewhat different from the white unwinged ones de- 
 fcribed above : but this was lofl in my colle6tion while I 
 was ablent on my voyage round the world, fo that I can- 
 not with any precifion determine to what fpecies it be- 
 longed. The fame difagreeable accident happened to me 
 with refpe^St to another very diminutive fpecies of termes, 
 or white ant, which I got a fight of twice in the road be- 
 tween BoJJjies-mans-rivier and Fifcb-rhier, This termes 
 was not greater than our termes pulfatoriumy or death- 
 watch; and, as well as I can remember, was very like the 
 white ant of the Eafl-Indies, or the termes fat ale. Contrary 
 to all expe(5tation, thefe made their way out of the hard 
 ground, coming to be our guefts m confiderable numbers, 
 whenever we happened to fet our butter-tub, or any thing 
 fat or greafy belonging to our provender-chefi: on the ground. 
 The winged ants firfl-mentioned {ter?nes Cape^tfe) my 
 hoft had feen in a much greater quantity ; he likewife in- 
 formed me, that the BoJhies-7nen and other Hottentots, who 
 were obliged to feek their own food themfelves, foon grew 
 fat and in good condition by eating thefe infedts. For this 
 .purix)fe, they were faid fometimes to boil them in then- 
 earthen velTels, in the manner they ufually did graflioppers ; 
 and at other times to eat them raw, as \ at that moment 
 law my hoiVs Hottentots do with refpedt to fonie few which 
 
 A a a 2 flew.
 
 3^4 
 
 A V OY A G E TO THE 
 
 ^775- flew, or rather were driven by the wind into their mafter's 
 
 November, , -i -i - -i i r • • • 
 
 V.^^YX^ grounds ; where the people being then buly in getting in 
 their corn, neither could, nor, indeed, as they had plenty 
 of other food, did they need to fpend their time in catch- 
 ing thefe infeds. As my hoft's only fon likewife tailed 
 one of thefe winged ants, I was induced to follow his 
 example. It feemed to me merely to feel cold in the 
 mouth, without any particular tafte ; though with greens 
 it would, probably, make as good a difh as feago, or crabs, 
 thofe fcorpion-like infe6ls, which we have accuftomed our- 
 felves to eat in Europe. In one part of Carniolia near the 
 Danube, where they are ufed to colle6l epbemem by the 
 cart-load for the purpofe of manuring their land, an in- 
 fe6l-eating race like the Hottentots would, doubtlefs,. make 
 as good a feaft upon them, as they do in Africa upon ants 
 and locufts. Whether the mofl mifchievous fpecies of 
 termesy the termes fatale^ Syft. Nat. or, as they are called, 
 the white ants of the Eaft and Weft-Indies, whether thefe 
 naturally inhabit the Cape, I cannot determine with any de^ 
 gree of certainty ; though it has been often aflerted, that the 
 white ants fometimes come thither with the Eaft-India 
 fhips, and neftle themfelves in there for fome time. Mr. 
 Immelman's parents told me, that a brick floor, laid upon 
 the bare earth in the lower part of the houfe, funk all at 
 once to the extent of about four feet fquare and two feet 
 deep: and it was found, that this unexpedled mine proceed- 
 ed from fome white ants, which had made their nefts be- 
 neath the flooring, and from thence likewife had begun 
 to form avenues to the pantry. However, they deftroyed 
 at once the whole colony of thefe unwelcome guefts, by 
 
 pouring
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 365 
 
 pouring boiling water upon them. Otherwife people are ^'^s- 
 wont, according to the accounts I have received from thofe v^-ro 
 who have been in the Eaft-Indies, to drive away thefe in- 
 fecfts with petroleeum, and other ftrong-fcented oils. Rot- 
 ten fifli, wliich are faid to be as bad as poifon to pifmires, 
 would likewife, probably, clear the houfes of the termes. 
 Though, perhaps, the ftrongefl poifon for thefe infedls is 
 arfenic ; as a fmall pinch of it only fire wed in any place 
 in the vicinity of them will, according to M. Chanve- 
 LON, in his Voyage to Martinicoy kill many millions of 
 them in a few hours. 
 
 The damages caufed by the white ants, as they are call- 
 ed, (which, however, perhaps, conlift of many different 
 fpecies) may be pretty well guefTed at from what has been 
 faid already. It, however, deferves likewife to be men- 
 tioned, that merchandize to an infinite amount are deftroy- 
 ed yearly both in the Eafl and Weft-Indies by thefe ver- 
 min. In the fpace of a few hours they are able to eat 
 into a chefl, and, as it were, cut to pieces all the linen, 
 lilk, clothes, and books in it ; on which account, people 
 in thefe countries are obliged to have their trunks and mer- 
 chandize flung upon ropes. It is likewife, perhaps, capable* 
 of multiplying its fpecies more than any other infe6l ; 
 for ProfefTor LiNNiEUs very kindly fhewed me a female, 
 which he had jufl before received from the Eafl-Indies, 
 and which was an inch and a half long, and of an extreme 
 bulk, and confequently capable of laying millions of eggs. 
 
 Though I could not learn whether the more noxious 
 fpecies of white ants are natives of the Cape or not, yet 
 it is very weU known, that Africa, at leafl tliat part of it 
 
 near
 
 366 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^T^'^' near Senegal, is peftered with them. In fo lliort a fpace 
 
 November, o ' j- ^ j- 
 
 ^•v>^ of time as between the evening and midnight, they have 
 been known to form a vault or covered way of earth or 
 clay, which they have gone in queft of and prepared 
 themfeh'es, as other obfervers have remarked. This arch- 
 ed way reached from the floor of M. Adanson's chamber 
 to the head of his bed, (fee his Voyage au Senegal,^ They 
 moreover not only began to cut his flieet and mattrefs in 
 pieces, but even had the impudence to fall foul on M. 
 Ad ANSON himfelf. A Hottentot with a good appetite, 
 would here have had a fair opportunity of putting in exe- 
 cution the lex talionis "•'■. 
 
 The locufls, likewife, fometimes afford a high treat to 
 the more unpolifhed and remote hordes of the Hottentots ; 
 when, as fometimes happens, after an interval of eight, 
 ten, fifteen, or twenty years, they make their appearance 
 in incredible numbers. At thefe times they come from 
 the north, migrating to the fouthward, and do not fuffer 
 themfelves to be impeded by any obftacles, but fly boldly 
 on, and are drowned in the fea whenever they come to it. 
 The females of this race of infe6ls, which are mofl apt 
 to migrate, and are chiefly eaten, are faid not to be able 
 to fly; partly by reafon of the fhortnefs of their wings, 
 and partly on account of their being heavy and diflended 
 with eggs ; and fliortly after they have laid thefe in the 
 fand they are faid to die. It is particularly of thefe that 
 the Hottentots are faid to make a brown coffee-coloured 
 foup, which, at the fame time, acquires from the eggs a 
 
 * In Vol. LXXI. of the Phil. Tranf. may be iztn a more circumftantial and com- 
 plete account of thefe infedls, by Mr. Smeathman. 
 
 fat
 
 G A P E OF G O O D H O PE. 367 
 
 fat and greafy appearance. Several different people agreed ^iis- 
 ill giving me this account, and at the fame time informed ^^^ysj 
 me, that the Hottentots were highly rejoiced at the arrival 
 of thefe locufts, though they are fure to deftroy every bit 
 of verdure on the ground : but the Hottentots make them- 
 felves ample amends for this lofs, by falling foul on the 
 animals themfelves, eating them in fuch quantities as, in 
 the fpace of a few days, to get vifibly fatter and in better 
 condition than before. My hoft in particular informed 
 me, that being one locufl-year on a hunting expedition on 
 the other fide of Vifcb-xwtx^ the Hottentots in thofe parts 
 explained the abundance of thefe infedts as proceeding 
 from fome great 77iajler conjuror a good way to the north- 
 ward, having removed a flone from the mouth of a cer- 
 tain deep pit, out of which he had let loofe thefe animals, 
 in order to be food for them. The intentions of nature, 
 however, in the produdlion of locufls, is hardly anfwered, 
 by their fometimes ferving to fatten a few Hottentots. But 
 I over-ran too haftily the very extenfive tra6ls compofing 
 the fouthern promontory of this quarter of the globe, to 
 be able to point out with any degree of certainty, any 
 other ufes accruing from the migration of the locufls thi- 
 ther in fuch great numbers. I will venture, however, to 
 throw out a conjedlure, which, at leafl, can do no harm ; 
 namely, that according to all accounts, wherever the 
 fwarms of locufls alight, the vegetables are fometimes en- 
 tirely confumed and deflroyed, appearing as if they had 
 been burnt up by fire. Perhaps, the ufe of thefe creatures 
 is the fame with that of fire, which latter is applied by 
 the colonifls and Hottentots to the purpofe of clearing 
 
 their
 
 368 A VOYAGE TO THE, &c. 1 
 
 "^11^- their fields from weeds. The ground is, indeed, by this 
 
 November. .-iiz-o- t-i -i i* 
 
 v^^^Y-^ means, m both cafes, Itripped quite bare ; but merely in 
 order that it may fhortly afterwards appear in a much more 
 beautiful drefs, being, in this cafe, decked with many kinds 
 of annual graffes, herbs, and fuperb lilies, which had been 
 choaked up before by flirubs and perennial plants. Thefe 
 lafl, moreover, which, throughout the whole of the pre- 
 ceding year, were hard, dry, withered, and half dead, of 
 <a pale yellow colour, harfh, and unfit for fodder, have 
 now an opportunity of fpringing up again, fo as to pro- 
 duce with their young flioots and leaves, paflures adorned 
 with a delightful verdure for the ufe of the cattle and game. 
 
 The weather in this month was warmer than in any of 
 the preceding, efpecialiy towards the concluiion of it, when 
 we quitted Lange-kloof^ and Kromme-rivier^ and came to 
 the plains by the fea-lide. 
 
 The thermometer generally rofe at about eight o'clock 
 in the morning from 65 to 70 in the fliade, and in the 
 fhade at noon it was fometimes as high as 80. 
 
 The rainy days were the nth, i6th, 17th, i8th, 19th, 
 and 26th; fometimes with a fouth-eaft, and at other times 
 with a fouth-weflerly wind. On the remaining days, 
 which were fine and free from rain, the north-weft and 
 weft winds almoft always prevailed. 
 
 End of the First Volume.
 
 Ifoftf'/ffot ()/7/(i///c/ils Sec 
 
 /o/.l J 
 
 3. BpsAikiina/i Toh/my-pifc 
 
 4.Fi£M jVwe. 
 
 f M(7n.} Be/t. 
 
 fVo/7//i/7s /M^r/ ();7/ament.
 
 iw./.y/ J 
 
 y^rms Sec. o/^ l//^ I^ot/-e/if-(7ts. 

 
 A 
 
 VOYAGE 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 
 
 TOWARDS THE 
 
 ANTARCTIC POLAR CIRCLE, 
 
 ▲ K D 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD: 
 
 BUT CHIEPLY INTO THE 
 
 COUNTRY OF THE HOTTENTOTS and CAFFRES, 
 
 FROM THE YEAR 1772, TO 1776. 
 BY ANDREW SPARRMAN, M. D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF PHYSIC AT STOCKHOLM, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCEf 
 IN SWEDEN, AND INSPECTOR OF ITS CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH ORIGINAL. 
 WITH PLATES. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR G. G. J. AND J. ROBINSON, PATER-NOSTER-ROW. 
 
 M DCC LXXXV.
 
 [ iii ] 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Journey from Sea-cow-river to Little Sunday-river, 
 
 Set out on their journey. Camtours-river. Defcription of the Hottentot 
 Capt. Kies, who is treated fans ceremonie by the author's HottentotPlattje. 
 A farmer's account of the great drought, and of a hoard of Caffres he had 
 met with on the road. Galgebofch. No water to be had. Van Staade's 
 river. Are vifited by fome Gonaquas Hottentots. Defcription of the 
 perfons, drefs, &c. of thefe people. Throw their javelins at a mark. 
 Not remarkable for dexterity in this point. A grain called holcus 
 forgum yields an inebriating liquor. Their waggon in danger of being 
 blown into the air, from their having inadvertently fet fire to the grafs. 
 Caroufal of hunters. The falt-pans. Defcription of the cimex para- 
 doxus, or leaf-infe<5l. Mr. Immelman fpits blood. Is in danger of 
 being tofled by buffaloes. Guinea-hens. Appearance of the banks of 
 Sunday-river. Hire feveral Bolhies-men to attend them in their expe- 
 dition. Give chafe to an uncommon fpecies of wood-fwine. Defcrip- 
 tion of thefe animals. Hottentot or baftard Caffres. Their dance 
 and fong. Voluptuous practices of the youths of both fexes during 
 dancing. Envenomed wound. Curious milk-bafkets. Method of 
 milking. Circumcifion pradlifed by thefe people. Conclufion of the 
 milking by finging and dancing. The author turns conjuror. Ballard- 
 Caffre conjuror well paid. Fox-tails for warm weather. Buffalo- 
 lice, p. 37. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 Journey from Little Sundays-river to Boshies-mans-river. 
 
 Concerto of lions. Their roaring defcribed. Preparations made againft: 
 an attack from thefe beafts. Animals fear the lion by inftin6l, and per- 
 ceive him at a dillance, even when he docs not roar. Lions few in 
 
 a 2 number.
 
 IV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 number, compared with other animals. Not fo bold fince the Dutch 
 have introduced the ufe of fire-arms into that part of Africa. Do not 
 immediately kill a man, except in cafe of refiftance. Neither do they 
 attack any animal openly, except irritated or very hungry. Meafure 
 th^ length of their leap, when they have miffed their prey by leaping 
 over it or fliort of it. Lurk cliiefly near rivers. Scared away by the 
 noife made with an ox-whip. Singular efcape of a Hottentot from a lion. 
 Lion frequently betrays marks of cowardice. Inftance of a lion being 
 fhot with its prey lying under it untouched. In general content with 
 wounding its prey, if it be a human creature. The caufe of this in- 
 veftio-ated. Ludicrous fituation of a farmer purfiied by a lion. Great 
 flrengtli of this animal. Not ftrong enough, however, to overpower 
 the buffalo, without having recourfe to art. Artful expedient of one 
 for carrying off a buffalo. Inftance of a buffalo's keeping five lions at 
 bay. Lion eafily torn in pieces by a dozen farmer's dogs. Horfes 
 fond of hunting lions and other fierce animals. The chafe of the lion 
 defcribed. Colonifts hunt them with great eagernefs. Not hard to 
 kill with guns. Its hide tender and penetrable. Their principal Hot- 
 tentot markfman fhoots a buffalo. Defcription of the buffalo. Its cars 
 by the Hottentots fuppofed to be torn by evil fpirits. A treacherous 
 and cruel animal. Fond of lying down in the water, or wallowing in 
 the mire. Buffalo-calf. The calves might be brought up tame. The 
 flefh good eating. Cannot be fhot with balls of lead alone. The 
 game wantonly deftroyed in great abundance by fome fportfmen. Glut- 
 tony of the Hottentots. Amufe themfelves with cracking jefts on 
 their mafters, in their oA'n language. Smoke cow-dung in default of 
 tobacco. Idle in the higheft degree, and difficult to govern, p. 73. 
 
 CHAP. XIL 
 
 Journey from Boshies-mans-river to Quammedacka. 
 
 Sneezing-wood in Niez-hout-kloof. The honorary degree of doflor con- 
 ferred on the author in his abfence. Butterfly-hunter in danger of 
 being impaled like the infefts he had caught. A buffalo-hunt. Nafti- 
 nefs of the Hottentots. Paint their cheeks black when they go a court- 
 ing. Amorous combat between two tiger-cat*. Oftrich-chicKs. 
 Rank water. Ridiculous neatnefs of a Dutchman. Defcription of the 
 fpring-bok. Leaps very high, and expands the white liil on its back, 
 when purfued. Very fvvift. Quammedacka well. Look out there for 
 the two-horned rhinoceros. Kolbe never faw this animal in reality. 
 
 The
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The author's cruelty to fome birds dying with thirft. Alarmed all 
 night Ic'^ng by a lion. The raw root of a fpecies of purflain very good 
 eating, as is that of the da-t"i<ai. Hottentocs fhoot two rhinocerofes. 
 The manner in which they informed the author of it. The defcription 
 and anatomy of the rhinoceros. The author and his friend in great 
 dange'r from one. Meet a herd of elk-antilopes, and afterwards with 
 a parry of colonifts, p. i 17. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Journey from Ql'ammedacka to Agter Bruntjes-Hoogte. 
 
 Hunt a couple of lions. Ollriches neft. The male oftrich aflifts the 
 female in the aft of incubation. This bird's feathers made ufe of for 
 chafing away the flies. Eggs ufed for pan-cakes, &c. but not equal 
 to thofe of hens in goodnefs. Oftriches do not hide their eggs when 
 purfued. Buffon criticifed on this fubjeft, as well as with refpedl to his 
 account of this bird's P^in. Its cry like the lion's roar. Alluded to 
 by the prophet Micah. The young have no cry. Oftrichs become 
 very tame. Might be brought to bear burdens. Chiefly found in the 
 carrow countries. Hunting the buflalo. Ludicrous fcene of the 
 Hottentots loaded v/ith the flefh. Difmal fituation of the author, when 
 benighted, at a diftance from his waggon, in a fl:orm. Defcription of 
 the gnu. Its claflification. The gnu met with here very vicious. 
 Manner of keeping Chrifl:m.as-eve in the defert. Meet with fome 
 colonifl:s. Ludicrous defcription of the drefs and figure of the two 
 travellers. Hippopotamus's fl^ulls. The author indifpofed. He ar^d 
 his party begin to want bread. Convulfive motions in the mufcles of 
 a dead hart-beefl:, p. 139. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Residekce at Agter Bruntjes-Hoogte. 
 
 Arrival at Agter Bruntjes-Hoogte. Cattleout of doors all winter. Cold 
 in thefe parts. Ravages committed by the Boihies-men here. Havock 
 made among them by the colonifts. Snefe-Hottentots. Their com- 
 plexion and temper. Geographical obfervations on the country they 
 inhabit. The Tambuki filver mines. Difquifition concerning the 
 unicorn. The country of the Caflres. Their government and wars. 
 
 The
 
 y^i 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The mafTacre of Heuppcnaer and his party in this country. King 
 Ruyter's craal. Ruyter'shiftory, tyrannical behaviour and wars. Com- 
 parifon between the refpeftive modes of fighting of the Hottentots and 
 Caffres. Slaves of the Chriftians more warlike than either, and much 
 elteemed by the Caffres. Defcription of Camdebo. Roads from thence 
 to the Cape. Plan formed for extending the journey. It proves abor- 
 tive on many accounts. Delightful fituation and fertility of Agter 
 Bruntjes-Hoogte. Happy lives of the farmers there. The foot made 
 by them an index to the road. Commodious pofture of fitting. Ex- 
 treme moderation in furniture and drefs. Their virtues. Friendly pro- 
 pofal from a female. New cure for the gout. Advantages of the me- 
 dical art to mankind. Worms univerfally miftaken here for pulmonary 
 complaints. The gnu. The viverra criftata, or grey jackal, onkjes- 
 and comnnon jackal. Defcription of the ratel. Its manner of plunder- 
 ing bees nefts. Very difficult to kill. The zerda, or animal anonyme 
 of Buffon. Bruce's miftake concerning it recftifted. Defcription of 
 the honey-guide. Miftake in the Philof. Tranf. re6tified. The jerboa 
 Capenfis. The bleefmoll, or mus Capenfis. The zand-moll, ormus 
 Caffer, refembles the rhinoceros. The talpa Afiatica, or variable mole, 
 more properly the forex aureus, defcribed. Anfwer to Dr.Pallas's query. 
 The gazcls of this country defcribed. The hartbeeft andelk-antilope,the 
 fat of this latter very fine. They migrate to the Ibuthward in great 
 droughts. Chafe of an elk-antilope. The beaft fwcats blood. Dangers 
 of the chafe in this country. The author's horfe falls with him. The 
 koedoe, or coudou. Pleafant miftake of Buffon concerning the name. 
 The Cape-chamois, or gemfe-bok, fomewhat refembles the elk of Kolbe. 
 The blaauw-bok, bunte-bok, and gnu. The ree-bok, riet-ree-bok, 
 vlak-fteen-bok, fteen-bok, duyker-bok and klip-fpringer. A baboon 
 hunt — the dogs fhew more malice againft this animal than againft any 
 other. Stridures on Buffon's opinion concerning the neceflity of a meat- 
 diet for man. Defcription of the camelopardalis. Defence of HafTel- 
 quift againft Buffon. Pleafant opinion of the latter concerning the 
 horns of oxen. Buffon convided of fetting the horns on the wrong 
 head, p. £48. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 CONTENTS, vii 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 JOURNEV FROM ACTER BruNTJES-HoOGTE TO THE TWO ViSCH-RIVERS, 
 
 AND Residence at those Places. 
 
 Departure from Agter Bruntjes-Hoogte. Beauty in a defert. Shoot a 
 tiger. Inftance of a tiger got the better of by a (lave. Unwelcome 
 vifit from a large party of Caffres. Preparations for their reception. 
 The conference. Their method of flaughtering their meat. Heaps of 
 jftones, probably antique monuments. Kok's-craal. Amazing fwift- 
 nefs of the Hottentots. Blockade of the fea-cows in their pits. Great 
 danger from one of them. Cry of this animal defcribed. A fea- 
 cow fhot by one of the party in his fleep. Her calf carried off and 
 flaughtered. Defcription of it. The hippopotamus lives entirely on 
 herbs and grafs. Is fometimes feen in the fea, but cannot drink the 
 fait water. Copulation, fize, and method of catching thefe animals. 
 Not flow in their pace. Medical virtues of their fkulls. Anatomy of 
 the calf. Leaches of a new fpecies about its anus. Difquifition on its 
 different names. Propofals for catching and keeping thefe animals 
 alive. The waggon in danger of being overturned by a rhinoceros in 
 its flight. A rhinoceros hunt. A Hottentot coward becomes bold 
 from fenfibility. The fine fcent of the Hottentots accounted for. Two 
 of the Hottentots in the author's train flioot a rhinoceros a fleep. Hot- 
 tentot bribe. Infhanceof their peculiar turn of mind. Love in a defert. 
 Drowfinefs the effeft of love. Recipe for that paffion. Billet-doux of 
 a forcfter, p. 300, 
 
 CHAP. XVL 
 
 Journey back to the Cape. 
 
 Rhinoceros hunt. Dangerous ride in the dark. Diabolical yell of a pack 
 of hyaenas. Conge of a Hottentot. Plettenberg's colony. Artifice of 
 a hippopotamus to breathe in the water. Another of a colonift to cheat 
 the government. The golden age reftored among the Gunjeman Hot- 
 tentots. The riches of a female Gunjeman. Simplicity of their diet. 
 Zwartkops-river. Boldnefs of three young lions. Damaquas Hotten- 
 tots. The fea-cows go to fea with the tide. The company feared by 
 a buffalo, and loft in a wood. The travellers return to their old hofl:, 
 J. Kok. Inconvenienceof feather beds. Red wine and oy Iters. Scorched 
 5 lerpents.
 
 Vlll 
 
 ii- 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ferpents. The bulla achatina. A country in flames. Wagenboom- 
 river. The author lofes his way on horfeback in a dreadful ftorm of 
 thunder and lightning. Method of converting grapes into raifins. 
 Famine arifing from the drought. Revifit Artaquas-kloof. The au- 
 thor's colieftions hurt by the waggon's overturning there. Valfche- 
 rivier. Great fc'arcity of ploughfhares in Africa, and of wrought iron 
 in general. A battle royal between a Hottentot and his wife. A receipt 
 to promote union in the married ftate. The imaginary gold-mine. 
 The aloe plant; difcovered by a Negro flave. Method of preparing 
 the gum from it. The geitje, a highly venomous lizard. Dreadful 
 confequences of its bite. Cured by a flave. Conjedures on its origin. 
 Defcri'ption of this animal. Syfl:ematical defcription of the lacerta 
 Capenfis. A very large fpecies of lizard, and very difficult to kill. 
 Defcription of a fingular anonymous quadruped. A farmer murdered 
 by his flaves., Surprizing efcape of his fon. Cruelty of the colonifiis 
 to their flaves, and horrid puniflimeftts infli6led on them. Public exe- 
 cutions only ferve to irritate the refl:. Different difpofitions of the 
 flaves of different nations. Peculiar turn of mind of the Bugunefe. 
 The author returns by the way of Roode-zand. A lake newly difco- 
 vered at Sneeuwberg. Brandy made from a fpecies of cadus. Arrival 
 at the Cape, p. 350. 
 
 A VOYAGE
 
 VOYAGE 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM SEA-COW-RIVER TO LITTLE 
 
 SUNDAY-RIVER. 
 
 o 
 
 N the I ft day of December we fet off on our journey 1775. 
 eaft\vard from Zee-koe^rivier^ and the next morning v^y^' 
 
 from Cabeljauuzv-rivier^ which was the laft place we 
 came to that was inhabited by chriftians. At noon we 
 reached Camtours-riviery where we baited. 
 
 Here a Hottentot captain, or rather a patriarch, exercifed 
 dominion over about half a hundred people, but was ftill in 
 his way a fovereign. He was a httle old man, of the 
 name of Kies. I fhould at firft fight have been eafily 
 tempted to conlider him as reigning merely over women, 
 
 Vol. II. B as
 
 December. 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 J 77 5- as at that time the company, in which we found him fmoking 
 his pipe confifted only of females; for the men (except- 
 ing fome few who lay ill of a i)utrid fever) were all out, 
 fome of them to hunt a lion, which had lately committed 
 ravages among their cattle ; and the others, it was faid, 
 were gone to a great diflance, in order to gather a certain fuc- 
 culent plant, which they made ufe of for chewing, either for 
 the fake of palling the time away, or on account of its 
 being of a pleafant tafte, and having the property of af- 
 fuaging their hunger. Captain Kies, therefore, abfo- 
 lutely denied our requeft; which was, that he would let us 
 have fome of his Hottentots by way of guides, who might 
 likewife be a neceffary afliftance to us, and reinforcement 
 of our company in the journey we were going to make 
 through the wildernefs. 
 
 In the meanwhile, I could not help being rather afliamed 
 of the rude behaviour of my third Hottentot or markfman, 
 Plattje ; for though I had hitherto never feen him at all 
 blunt in his behaviour, but had remarked, on the contrary, 
 that he had always addrefled thefe Hottentot patriarchs with 
 fome kind of refpecSl, I now obferved, that immediately 
 on our coming into the prefence of a perfon of fuch great 
 authority, without the leaft bow or ceremony of any kind, 
 he went iminvited and fat himfelf down by the fide of 
 him, at the fame time filling his pipe out of the other's 
 pouch, and calling about him for milk to drink. This 
 behaviour, neverthelefs, did not feem to be at all taken ill ; 
 on the contrary, they immediately brought him a cup of 
 bagged milk. I obferved at this time, as well as on my 
 return hither, that Kies like Captain Rundganger, of 
 
 whom
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 December, 
 
 \vhom I made mention at nat^e 240, of Volume I. alwavs had ^ '"7 
 
 i (^ *T ' . Decen 
 
 his captain's ftafF in his hand or elfe clofe by him ; and this v^-v-s^ 
 ftafF, was every way as plain and limple as Rundganger's: 
 but though KiES was much better circumftanced with re- 
 gard both to the number of his people and of his cattle, 
 yet he as good as dwelt wdth his court and the reft of his 
 fabjedls in the open air; his palace confifting Only of a 
 few poles fet up flanting in the earth with a ragged mat 
 thrown over them, which of courfe admitted the wind 
 in feveral places, and let in the rain in wet weather. 
 This filed, thus open on three lides, and in a great mea- 
 fure at the top, was, however, ufeful enough at that 
 time of the year, and in that v\'arm climate. The win- 
 ter, or more properly fpeaking, the rainy feafon, would, 
 probably, oblige them to provide themfelves with a better 
 dwelling. 
 
 That fame day we continued our journey, making to- 
 wards Loory-rivier^ where we took up our abode at night. 
 Here we met with a farmer, \\-ho in his ox-waggon had 
 followed the courfe of Zondags-rivier all the way from 
 Camdebo ; a country of that kind which I have defcribed 
 at page 246 of Volume I. under the denomination of Car row. 
 He informed us, that this year, in which the drought was 
 unufually great in all parts, it was remarkably fo there, 
 as fcarcely a drop of rain had fallen there in the fpace of 
 eight months ; but juft as he was leaving thofe parts, he 
 had had feveral fhowers along the courfe of that river. 
 
 He, therefore, dilTuaded us from taking that road, as it 
 was, for the greater part of it, entirely unbeaten, arid, and 
 jugged; and likewife, becaufe both v\'ater and game wxre 
 
 B 2 extremely
 
 4 AVOYAGEto the 
 
 »775- extremely fcarce there. In confequence of this latter cir- 
 \^yy^ cumitance, as his provifions were almoll: entirely fpent, he 
 was juft going to knock one of his draught-oxen on the 
 head, by way of procuring food for himfelf and his fuite, 
 when two hartbeefts by great good-luck came up dire6lly 
 to the waggon, in order to take a view of it, one of which 
 he immediately fliot. 
 
 This fame peafant had unexpe6ledly met on this road 
 %vith about an hundred wandering Caffres. Their patri- 
 arch or chief, had propofed to lleep the firfl night along 
 with the farmer in his waggon, who, on the other hand, 
 fhould fleep with him in his tent the night following. 
 This the farmer not confenting to, the GafFre patriarch 
 was fo far from taking it ill, that, on the contrary, he had 
 killed an ox, and prefented the farmer and his fuite with 
 fome fine pieces of beef. The boor likewife informed 
 me, that the Caffre cattle were uncommonly fat and in 
 good condition ; at which he w^as the more furprized, as 
 they were not turned out till noon, and driven home very 
 early. He, moreover, obferved, that the CafFres fondled 
 and talked to their cattle a good deal as they flood in the 
 craal; doubtlefs, in the fame manner as the Arabians do 
 to their horfes ; which not a little contributes to making 
 them thrive and rendering them brifk and lively, and at 
 the fame time more intelligent and tradable. 
 
 On the 3d we baited at noon near Galge-bofcb^ a little 
 wood v/hich was much frequented by lions, and flill more 
 by buffaloes. I Avas confequently more than ever in pain 
 for my cattle, as, though there was very good pafturage 
 on the fpot, they had ftolen away from it, and were 
 
 miffing
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 5 
 
 miflin^ for feveral hours. In the mean time, we were ^ ^77 s- 
 
 *--' December. 
 
 apprehenlive, that they had been feared away from the y^./^^-sj 
 place by Uons; but the fail was, that being very thirfly, 
 they had ftrayed into a dale towards a pit full of very 
 muddy water, where they were found. My Hottentots were 
 of opinion, that cattle would find out water by the fcent 
 at a very great difbance. I have heard fome colonifts fay, 
 that they fufpedled the fame of the Hottentots, as they can 
 find water upon occaiion better than any colonifts; but this 
 cannot proceed from any thing elfe than the Hottentots 
 greater ailiduity in this point, and being more accuftomed 
 to wander about the fields, by which means they have ac- 
 quired a particular fkill in tracing out this necelTary arti- 
 cle of life from certain peculiarities of fituation, and vari- 
 ous other circumiliances. 
 
 Indeed, we could get nothing fit to drink ouiielves ; and 
 it was late at night before, thirlty as we were, we got to 
 a land-fpring ; which, to our great vexation, we found 
 dried up; fo that there were only here and there in the 
 mire a print of -the buffaloes feet deeper than ordinary, in 
 which we obferved a little moifture. We therefore dug 
 deeper holes with our hands, and waited with all the pa- 
 tience we were maflers of, till the water was collected in 
 them, and could be taken out by means of fmall ba- 
 fons. But beiides that it was as thick as hafty-pudding, 
 it had acquired fo rank a tafte from the buffiiloes that had 
 laid and wallowed in it, that even the Hottentots made 
 wry faces at it ; and our horfes began to blow and fnort at 
 the flrong buffalo-fcent which affected their noftrils, even 
 before they tailed the water. Our thirfl, however, obliged 
 
 us
 
 6 AVOYAGEto the 
 
 »775- US frequently to iip a little of it jufl as it was; for when 
 
 December. . ^ \ ^ . -^ '. , , , 
 
 \,^y\j It was made into coliee or tea, it was Itill more intolerable. 
 To fearch about elfewhere at this time when it was dark, 
 was not only impoffible but dangerous, on account of the 
 lions. At break of day we difcovered fome traces w^hich 
 led us to the fountain-head of this land-fpring, which had 
 been clofed up by the trampling of the buffaloes feet ; we, 
 therefore, made haftc to dig it open again, when we found 
 fome more tolerable water to quench our thirll, which, 
 was adlually infuppor table. We frequently made ufe of 
 fugar-candy as a tolerably good palliative for our thirfl, 
 during our travels in this hot and fcorching climate; but 
 this did not relieve us for any long time together. At 9 
 o'clock in the evening the thermometer was at 64, and 
 the next day, being the 4th, at day-break, a good deal of 
 dew having fallen, I found it i o degrees lower. 
 
 We now purfued our journey, taking the lower road 
 by Fan Staades-riviery which at that time was brackifh 
 and rather deep. For want of proper precaution in our 
 Hottentots, our oxen turned back before they got half 
 way over the river, and at the fame time were thrown 
 into confufion and diforder; fb that it was a difficult mat- 
 ter, to fave both them and the waggon from linking. 
 When we had got to the other lide, and were baiting our 
 cattle, we were vifited by eighteen Gonaquas-l{oX.ttDXot?>^ 
 from a cf aal which was juft in the neigbourhood 
 
 This nation confifled of about two hundred people, 
 who were all graziers, and at that time dwelt there in 
 two feparate villages. They are certainly a mixture of 
 Hottentots and Caffres, as their language had an affinity 
 
 with
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 7 
 
 with that of both thefe nations ; but in their utterance, ^ ^'^y^- 
 
 December. 
 
 which was hke that of human beings, in the natural V./v^ 
 blacknefs of their complexions, in the great flrength and 
 robuftnefs of their limbs, and laftly in the height of their 
 llature, they bore a greater refemblance to the CafFres, fe- 
 veral of whom they likewife had at that time among 
 them. The cloaks of the Gonaquas are likewife made of 
 dreffed cow-hides, like thofe of the Caffres. Thefe cloaks 
 are very fupple ; a quality that proceeds partly from being 
 rubbed a good deal, which I myfelf faw performed with 
 Itones on the infide of them; and partly from the great 
 quantity of greafe, which, being mixed up with bucku- 
 powder, is rubbed into them. Both fexes are adorned 
 with, and fet a great value upon, brafs rings, which they 
 wear on their arms and legs, as well as brafs plates of 
 different lizes and figures, which are f aliened in their hair 
 and ears. 
 
 With refpedt to beads, which, fpeaking of in a general 
 way, they call Jintela, the fmall red ones are much more 
 coveted than the reft ; thefe are called lenkitenka^ (See the 
 fpecimen of the Caffre's language, which I have annexed 
 at the conclufion of this journal.) The genuine CafFres 
 had, in this point, exactly the fame tafte ; but many of 
 them had got ivory rings, of the thicknefs and breadth 
 of about half an inch, and of fuch a iize as to be ftrung 
 upon the arms above the elbows. Thefe, however, are 
 worn only by the men ; for which reafon a CaiFre, who 
 had fold me his bracelets, feemed extremely diflreffed, fay- 
 ing, that he was now naked about the arms like a woman. 
 Beiides that both the CafFres and Gonaquas are very impor- 
 tunate
 
 8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1775. tunate beggars, they are likewife exceedingly unreafonable 
 \^^^!^' in their deaUngs, as when they make their payments, 
 they are very apt to alk for a handfome prefent into the 
 bargain. 
 
 Both the Gonaquas and CafFres differ from other Flot- 
 tentots in this particular, that they make life of circum- 
 cifion. This operation is performed on youths of different 
 ages, as they are accuftomed to wait till they can perform 
 it on feveral at a time. 
 
 The Gonaquas women make ufe of almofl the fame kind 
 of apron or veil as the Hottentot females do. The men 
 are much more naked and lefs covered about this part than 
 the males among the Hottentots, inafmuch as they cover 
 with a little cap, or cafe, made of the fkin of an animal, 
 the extremities only of what modefly fliould teach them 
 to conceal entirely. This focket, refembling the extremity 
 of the thum.b of a glove, is fometimes faflened with a fmall 
 thong, or the iinew of an animal, to fome firings of beads 
 or leathern belts, which they wear for ornament's fake 
 round their waifls. Some individuals are feen with lions 
 or buffaloes tails hanging on thefe fame belts, as trophies 
 of their courage in having killed thefe beads. 
 
 By reafon of the nakednefs of thefe people, of which I 
 have juft been giving a defcription, it may be thought that 
 they have as little modefly as covering : but the fa6l is, 
 that very few of them could be induced, even by prefents, 
 to take off their little cafes, in confequence of my wifh to 
 be perfedlly convinced that they were circumcifed. Indeed, 
 I have been told by a farmer, that in Cafferland one does 
 not unfrequently fee even grown up girls without any co- 
 vering
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 9 
 
 veriiig whatfoever ; and that in certain dances, it confti- pJ/^75-^,^ 
 tutes part of the folemnity for the youths of both fexes to v^^-xj 
 make fuch oblations to love in the prefence of every one, 
 as by the laws of decency and of civilized nations, are con- 
 fidered as facred to the married flate alone. 
 
 The Caffres feemed to me to refemble very much in 
 appearance the Mofambique ilaves, whom I had feen at the 
 Cape; and, perhaps, thefe nations border upon each other; 
 the former being probably defcended from the latter, or the 
 latter from the former. 
 
 The Gonaquas Hottentots, who at this time paid their 
 refpeds to me, came chiefly with an intent to beg tobacco. 
 They w^ere all of them armed with one or more of the 
 javelins, which they call hqjfagais^ (vide Plate II. Vol. I. Fig. 
 1,2.) as well as with fhort flicks, ta which they gave the 
 name of kirris. With one of thefe I faw a lad very near- 
 ly hit a fparrow-hawk in its flight. But they took fo bad 
 an aim, when they threw their javelins, that, though they 
 tried very often, they could not hit a handkerchief which 
 I had fet up between two flicks, at the diftance of twenty 
 paces, by way of mark for them, and at the fame time as 
 a prize for him that iliould hit it. This want of dexterity, 
 certainly proceeded from their having negleded to pradife, 
 as they lived too far from the Bofliies-men Hottentots, and 
 Caffres, and too near to the Chriflians, to be able to ex- 
 crcife any hoflilities againfl the former, or to dare to do it 
 againfl the latter. In the mean time they wxre very bufy 
 in examining narrowly each others javehns, and in feeling for 
 their proper balance. They threw them, however, with 
 a great deal of force ; and, as I have been told by feveral 
 
 Vol. II. G people,
 
 lo A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 »/7?- people, are able to pierce a man or a gazel through the 
 v.^'v-sj body at the diftance of twenty paces. I then fhot at a flieet 
 of paper with a fowling-piece, and as they appeared to be 
 very much amazed at the holes that were made, and at 
 the fame time to be very deiirous of keeping the paper, 
 they took it without any ceremony, but fliortly after offer- 
 ed to give it me again for a morfel of tobacco. 
 
 The Gonaquas Hottentots moreover wxre graziers, and 
 in fome fort tillers of the ground, as the Caffre nation is 
 likewife faid to be. The kind of corn which they fow, is 
 the holcus forghumy which is likewife ufed in the fouth of 
 Europe, and known to yield abundantly. The colonifts 
 call it Caffer-corn, The llalks flioot up to the height of 
 a man, and as thick as a rufli. They terminate in a pedi- 
 cle or branchy ear, a foot and a half long, v/ith feeds of 
 about the fame fize as thofe of rice ; two or three of thefe 
 ears generally yield three quarters of a pint of corn. The 
 time of fowing this feed, is faid to be in Auguft or Sep- 
 tember. But in the beginning of November, while I yet 
 remained in Sitficamma^ I faw it already fit for cutting, at 
 a farmer's who fet little flore by it, giving it only to 
 his cattle. The Caffres ufe to bruife this corn between 
 Hones, and make it into loaves, which they bake vmder 
 the embers. 
 
 They mofHy, however, nfe to ferment it with a certain 
 root and water, till it produces a kind of inebriating liquor. 
 They generally confume their whole Hock, which, how- 
 ever, is not coniiderable, immediately in the autumn. The 
 Caffre prince Paloo, whom the colonifts Called king Pha- 
 raoh,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. ti 
 
 RAOH* is faid to have killed himfelf with drinkino; this ^ *77s;- 
 
 '-> December. 
 
 liquor. V^-^-v.^ 
 
 On feveral accounts we haflened our departure from 
 hence. Our courfe was now to the north, over plain level 
 fields, for the greater part covered with a dry arid grafs to 
 the height of about two feet. Our guide took us firfl tO' 
 a well of lukewarm water, and afterwards at night to ano- 
 ther pool of water, at the bottom of a river that was dried up. 
 Both places were very acceptable to us as well as to our 
 cattle, though the w-ater was none of the heft. Near this 
 latter fpot we took up our night's lodging. 
 
 It was not without difficulty, that we could collect wood 
 enough round about the neighbourhood to boil our tea- 
 kettle ; and after all, we ran a great rifk of having an eijd 
 put to our whole expedition by a fire. A Hottentot, in 
 looking for fomething with a piece of lighted wood, 
 happened to fet the dry grafs on fire, which fpread in 
 it almofi: as if it had been oakum; fo that had we not been 
 very quick in Hopping the progrefs of the flames, and 
 moreover mutually affiiled each other, we fliould foon have 
 feen the whole diftridl in one continued flame, and our 
 waggon would have been entirely demoliflied in the con- 
 flagration, and blown up into the air ; for there was not 
 only a good deal of coom about it, but it alfo contained 
 many inflammable matters ; fuch as the fail-cloth tilt, dried 
 herbs and paper, a cafk full of fpirits, and about twenty 
 pounds weight of gunpowder. The wind blew^ hard from 
 the fouth-wefl, the thermometer at eleven at night being 
 66, and the next day about dawn at 64, when we faddled 
 our horfes and put our oxen to the waggon.. At nine we 
 
 C 2 got
 
 12 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- o;ot to little Zwart-kops river, and fet off from thence about 
 
 December. ^ -i r- i • i 
 
 V-^-vO four in the afternoon, and at fix o'clock arrived at great 
 Zwart-kaps river. 
 
 On the road we had feen large herds of the v/ild affes, 
 called quaggas^ and of hart-be efts ; as like wife, for the firfl 
 time, fix female buffaloes, with two young ones. Thefe came 
 from the fea-fide, from whence our guide fuppofed they had 
 been forced to make their retreat thus at noon, either on 
 account of the lions or of flies. 
 
 We had not yet been able .to get w^ithin reach of any 
 oame, fo that our falted wether had hitherto been our 
 only refource. This, in its fkin bag, had already acquired 
 a pretty flrong haut gout, in confequence of the warmth 
 of the weather. Mr. Immelman, who w^as nice in his 
 eating, and not ufed to put up with falted meat, efpecially 
 when it was rather tainted;^ had, from our firft fetting out, 
 it being now the fifth day, fuffered much from hunger. 
 For our fmall flock of bread would not at this time afford us 
 above two bifcuits a man per diem, each bifcuit weighing 
 about an ounce and a half. 
 
 At this Zwart'kops river, where we were now arrived, 
 and intended to pafs the night, we found two farmers had 
 got in before us, v/ho were come thither in order to get 
 fait and hunt. Indeed; they had already fhot feveral heads 
 of game, which they had hung up in large flips and ihreds 
 on the buflies, waggons, and fences, in order to dry it in 
 the fun, in the fame manner as the Hottentots did the ele- 
 phant's flefhnearD/^/>-riw>r, as I mentioned before, Volume I. 
 page 313. From this flefli there was diffufed round about 
 the fpot not only a crude and rank fmell, bvit like wife a 
 
 putrid
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 13 
 
 putrid flench from fuch parts of it as had arrived at the j^^JJJ{^^^^ 
 ftate of putrefaction ; and the farmers wives and children, u^v^w' 
 together with the Hottentots who had accomi:>anied them,, 
 with a view to affifl them as well as for their own pleafure, 
 were employed in feafting upon it, and fleeping, and fearing- 
 away a number of birds of prey, which hovered round 
 about them and over their heads, in order to fteal av/ay the 
 flefli. This horrid fpedtacle of fo many carnivorous hu- 
 man creatTires, awakened in me a lively remembrance of 
 the cannibals in New Zealand, and had like to have entirely 
 taken away our appetites for a meat fupper, fo that we 
 refolved to bear with our hunger that night as well as we' 
 could; but at laft comes our guide, very opportunely, with 
 the flioulder of a hart-beejl, which we immediately cut, 
 and drelTed it in our pot with dripping ; a difli which was 
 called by the Hottentots by the name of the inftrument 
 {fnora, which means a knife,) with which it is cut in 
 pieces. Our mouths watered at the light of it, and we 
 eat it with an excellent appetite, which was no longer 
 fpoiled by any refledlions limilar to thofe I have juft men- 
 tioned. 
 
 On the 6th, at break of day, my guide and I took a 
 ride, in order to cut up the hart-heeji he had ihot, and 
 loaded one horfe with as much as he could carry, in order 
 to lay it up in the waggon, by way of making provilion for 
 the journey. 
 
 The tulbagia, a fmall hexandrous plant, called by Lin- 
 naeus after M. Tulbag, governor at the Cape, grev/ here 
 in great abundance ; though I had never before feen more 
 than a lingle fpecimen of it, and that was on the road 
 
 to
 
 ^4 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- to Zwelle?tdci7n, Here I like wife faw, for the firfl time, a, 
 
 December. .-f,- • •^ r • i i i it 
 
 \^yy-^ fmall kind ot orion, with fpiral leaves ; caught an ampbif-^ 
 hoena ; and drew up the defcription of a cleo7?te jmiceay 
 which I have inferted in the Adta Societ. Upfal. Vol. III. 
 2:)age 192. 
 
 The farmers here, as well as fome others, w^ho were 
 going to the Cape before me, were fo obliging, as, at my 
 reqiieft, to take with them the packet of herbs I had al- 
 ready collected ; otherwife, I fliould not have had room 
 enough in my waggon for all my colle6lion. 
 
 The tide v^as very vilible in this river. The wind blew 
 flrong from S. S. W. At noon the thermometer was 71 in 
 the fliade, and in the evening, after the moon was up, at 
 64. On the 7th, at half pail five in the morning, the 
 thermometer was at 52. 
 
 We now proceeded on our journey, going northwards, 
 and in our wa,y, a good mile and a half from the river, 
 we met with the capital Zout-pan, or Salt-pan. By this 
 name thofe places are diftinguiflied, where there is a quan- 
 tity of culinary fait produced. 
 
 This falt-pan was an extenlive plain, covered over with 
 a level and continued crufl of fait, upon which, in feveral 
 places, there Hood a little water ; fo that there could not 
 be a more natural refemblance of a frozen lake than this. 
 This by confequence, being contrafted with the warmth 
 of the weather and furrounding trees and flowers, would 
 certainly at firfl fight have flruck me with the greatefl 
 amazement, had I not been previoufly informed of the real 
 caufe of the phaenomenon. Towards the fides the cruft of 
 fait was thin; and juft there one might perceive, that it 
 
 a was
 
 CAPE ov GOOD HOPE. 15 
 
 was diffufed over a loamy and clayey foil. But a little ^ ^77S' 
 
 •' •' •' December. 
 
 farther towards the middle, I found it was above two feet \^y>rU 
 deep, without being able to difcover the bottom of it, or 
 any water underneath it. The colonifts who worked here 
 with poles, imagine that the cruft of fait extends many 
 fathoms below the fur face. 
 
 This falt-pan was about three miles in circumference, 
 and of an oblong fhape. After there have been feveral 
 warm days together, there is formed in different places on 
 the cruft, a hoar froft, as it were, which is the fineft and 
 flrongeft fait, and is with great reafon fuppofed by the co- 
 lonifts to exceed that of Lunenburgh, Indeed, the whole 
 of it feems to be quite fine and pure : and it appears to 
 me, and is allowed by others, to give a better tafte to the 
 butter and meat that is preferved in it, than any that 
 comes from the other falt-pans to be met with in Africa ; 
 as Saldanka-bay', between Zoet-melk and Gawrits rivers, 
 and in certain places behind the Sneeuwbergs, or fnowy 
 mountains. 
 
 My Hottentots were occupied in collecting a ftock of the 
 fineft fait, as much as I thought we fliould want for the 
 purpofe of faking onr meat, and fuch fkins of animals as 
 I might wifh to preferve. In the mean time, I myfelf 
 made a rich capture of many reptiles and infedls' hitherto 
 unknown ; feme of which were ftuck faft and dried up in 
 the cryftals of fait, while others were dying, or had juft ex- 
 pired, in confequence of the vifcid faline matter with which 
 they were in contadl. Many infe6ls were likewife drown- 
 ed in the clear water or briny liquid, which, after it had 
 rained, v/as coHie(5ted in certain places in the incruftation 
 
 of
 
 x6 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 , 1775- of fait. We were obiiofed to Vv'^ade a ^ood way into it; and al- 
 
 December. ^ o j ' 
 
 ^•v^ though the fait dried and cryflallized upon our legs and feet, 
 till at night we found water to walli it off with, yet no ill ef- 
 fects cnfued from it : a circmnftance which I thought proper 
 to mention, for the encouragement of fuch as may hereafter 
 colledl infetfts in this or other places of the fame nature. 
 
 That peculiar infe6l, the cimex paradoxus-, which I have 
 <lefcribed and given a drawing of in the Swedifh Tranf- 
 adlions, (Vol. XXXVIII. p. 235,) ''^T difcovered at this place, 
 as at noon-tide I fought for flielter among the branches of 
 a flirub from the intolerable heat of the fun. Though 
 the air was now extremely flill and calm, fo as hardly to 
 have fliaken an afpen leaf, yet I thought I faw a little 
 withered, pale, crumpled leaf, eaten as it were by cater- 
 pillars, ilittering from the tree. This appeared to me fo 
 very extraordinary, that I thought it worth my while 
 fuddenly to quit my verdant bower in order to contem- 
 plate it ; and I could fcarcely believe my eyes, when I 
 faw a live infe6t, in fhape and colour refembling the frag- 
 ment of a withered leaf, with the edges turned up and 
 eaten away, as it were, by caterpillars, and at the fame 
 time all over befet with prickles. Nature, by this pecu- 
 liar form, has certainly extremely well defended and con- 
 cealed, as it were in a mafk, this infecfl from birds and its 
 other diminutive foes; in all probability with a view to 
 preferve it, and employ it for fome important office in 
 the fyflem of her oeconomy ; a fyflem with which we 
 are too little acquainted, in general too little invefhgate, 
 I and, in every part of it, can never fufficiently admire with 
 
 * See lilcwife Plate VII. cf this Volume, 
 
 that
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 17 
 
 ■ that relpe6l and veneration which we owe to the 2:reat An- ^ ^77v 
 
 ■^ '-' iJecember. 
 
 thor of nature and Ruler of the univerfe. V-^rvJ 
 
 At night we came to Kuga^ a httle river, the water of 
 which w^as brackifh ; but fome good and frefli water was 
 found in a w^ell hard by it. Here Ukewife we had a hafty 
 glimpfe of two hares, which feenied to refemble the ordi- 
 nary hares of Europe. 
 
 My companion, wdio was fubjedl to a fpitting of blood, 
 happened here to be much troubled with this complaint ; a 
 complaint to w^hich the animal diet he had been accuftomed 
 to during the whole journey, together with the fatigue he 
 had undergone, and the fcorching heat of the fun, had necef- 
 farily difpofed him. Bleeding, together with a little faltpetre 
 and the w^ater from this fpring, w^ere the only means, (and 
 thofe not ill adapted to the purpofe,) w^hich we fortunate- 
 ly had at hand for his recovery in this defert place. U^^on 
 the w^hole, I took as much care of him as I poflibly could 
 on an open plain, with no other canopy than the flvy. 
 The finenefs of the weather, together with the coolnefs of 
 the night, and above all his utter averfion to all lick- 
 nefs, circumftanced as we w ere, I believe did not a little 
 contribute towards his fpeedy recovery. The next morn- 
 ing, however, w^hen, in order to make a trial of his flrength, 
 he walked a few^ hundred paces from our baiting-place, 
 his life w^as in flill greater and more imminent danger. 
 This was from a herd of young cattle, which, by way 
 of experiment, had been left in this place, under the 
 care of a flave, and being at that time unufed to the fight 
 of any human creature befides, had like to have gored 
 him to death, Thefe fierce animals then, making a femi- 
 VoL. II. D cu-cle
 
 i8 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^ »775- circle about Mr. Immelman, advanced continually nearer 
 
 December. 
 
 ^/-/-O and nearer to him, fo that he was obliged to retire back- 
 wards. According to the old faying, " a curft cow has 
 Hiort horns ;" this we found in a manner verified on this 
 occalion, for a heifer without horns was the foremoft and 
 moll vicious of them all. I therefore haftened thither with 
 my loaded piece, with an intention of difcharging it among 
 them, and at the fame time, repeating the firing as often 
 as I was able, to cover our retreat. In the mean time, how- 
 ever, it came into my head firfl to try a milder method, which 
 I had heard of, when in Europe, as a certain defence againfl 
 the attacks of wild and vicious bulls ; and which, in fhort, 
 was no more than to hold your hat before your face, and on a 
 fudden uncover it at intervals, at the fame time, with a quick 
 pace, advancing upon them, and flanding ftill alternately. 
 With this method we fo far fucceeded, that the heifer with- 
 out horns, as well as the reft of the herd, was very much 
 feared. Juft after this, one of my Hottentots was attacked 
 by the fame herd, but efcaped them by the lightnefs of 
 his heels. Afterwards, on our returning this way home, 
 we were informed, that the owner of the herd had been 
 obliged to remove it from hence, as a lion had begun to 
 infeft thefe parts. 
 
 Two hartbeefts came likewife this morning early very 
 near our waggon in order to furvey us, but unluckily jufl 
 at that time we had no gun ready charged. At 1 2 o'clock 
 I found the thermometer, when placed in the fliade under 
 our waggon, at 83. 
 
 In the afternoon we fet off again, dire6ling our caurfe 
 to the eafi:, and came to a place on the lower part of Zon- 
 
 dags-riviery
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E, 19 
 
 dazS'riviet\ known by the name of fNuka fKamma^ which, ^ '7^?- 
 
 ^^ ' J ' ' December 
 
 I believe, lignifies grajjy water. We here found the re- v^/'ynJ 
 cent traces of a lion, and took proper precautions againft 
 it, in cafe we fhould go down to the river. \w the even- 
 ing we like wife thought we faw in the thickets an elephant 
 at a good dilliance off. Thefe animals are faid to aifemble 
 in great numbers in the thorny thickets, made by the 
 guaijacum afrum and the mimoja nilotica^ which afford 
 them a kind of afylum. 
 
 We now began to find the Guinea hen {nuniida meleagris) 
 in thefe parts. They kept together in flocks, and confequent- 
 ly were very fhy and cautious. I obferved they flew low and 
 Itraight forwards, like our partridges. They appeared to get 
 the greateft part of their food on the ground, but at night 
 they perched together up in the trees ; fo that I once killed 
 fix of them at one fhot, and feveral more were wounded, 
 which, however, efcaped in the dark. Their flefli was dry, 
 and much inferior to that of the common hen. 
 
 Of Sunday-rivier, which at this part made a great many 
 windings, the banks to us w^ere extremely high and fleep, 
 and indeed quite perpendicular; conlilling, to all appear- 
 ance, merely of the fame dry and clayey materials as the 
 furface of the earth exhibited on our fide. In the upper 
 part, the bank appeared to be quite plain and level ; but 
 it is difficult to conjedlure, whence this diflimilarity in the 
 banks of the river fhould arife, unlefs one of them had 
 been thrown up by an earthquake ; or that the river by de- 
 grees had made its way to the fide of fome flat hill level 
 at top, and undermined it, till the part that hung over fell 
 down, when it would neceffarily be quite level and per- 
 
 D 2 pendicular;
 
 20 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^j;??' pendicular; as, in fa6l, it is at prefent. At night we had 
 
 December. ^ ■' * «_> 
 
 K,^rsJ rain, with a fouth-weft wmd. 
 
 On the 9th at five o'clock in the morning, when we 
 departed from hence, the thermometer w^as at 62 ; and at 
 half pad three in the afternoon we arrived at Zondags-ri- 
 ^oiefs-drift. We had, neverthelefs, gone out of our road 
 on purpofe to chafe two buffaloes, one of which made its 
 efcape though wounded, and the other leaped into a clofe 
 thicket, where it was neither advifeable, nor indeed poffi- 
 ble to follow it. In the mean time, to my great aflonifh- 
 ment, we could fee from the top of the bufhes the ani- 
 mal piercing through the thickeft of the wood with the 
 greateft eafe, jufl as if he was merely running through a 
 rye-field. We likewife faw a Koedae (the antilope Jirepfi- 
 eeros of Pallas.) 
 
 Soon after our arrival at this part of Stmday-rivier^ we 
 were waited upon by three old Hottentots, who feemed as if 
 they came to pry into our bufinefs in thofe parts. They were, 
 properly fpeaking, of the race of Bq/Jjies-meriy though of 
 the more civilized fort, who, even in their own language^ 
 diftinguifhed themfelves by the name of good BoJbies-men\ 
 probably from the circumflance of their grazing a few 
 cattle, and not living by rapine like others of their coun- 
 trymen. My guide explained their bufinefs to me, which 
 was to beg tobacco, and to complain of their diftrelfed fitua- 
 tion ; the farmers having been with them, and having carried 
 off all their young people, fo that they were now left alone 
 in their old age to look after themfelves and their cattle. 
 1 ordered my interpreter to tell them in reply, that we, as 
 
 they
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 21 
 
 they might very well perceive, were no farmers, and flill December. 
 lefs kidnappers. ^•v>*-^ 
 
 I muft here inform the reader, that many of the igno- 
 rant Hottentots and Indians not having been able to form 
 any idea of the Dutch Eaft-India Company and the board 
 of direcSlion, the Dutch from the very beginning in India, 
 politically gave out the company for one individual power- 
 ful prince, by the chriftian name of Jan or John, This 
 likewife procured them more refpedt, than if they had ac- 
 tually been able to make the Indians comprehend, that they 
 were really governed by a company of merchants. On 
 this account I ordered my interpreter to fay farther, that 
 we were the children of Jan CofUpany^ who had fent us 
 out to view this country, and colle6l plants for medical 
 purpofes. I likewife bid him give them to underitand, 
 that we had an amazing quantity of powder and ball, to- 
 gether with five lland of fire-arms, as they themfelves 
 faw; that we intended to flioot a great deal of game, and 
 it would be a great pity if they could not come along with 
 us, and partake of the abundant fpoil of flefli, which 
 would other wife be fuffered to lie as food for the birds and 
 beafts of prey. 
 
 This flory, patched up in hafie, with a mixture of truth 
 and falfliood, feemed to have made a deep impreilion on 
 thefe Hottentots. It was, indeed, touching them in a ten- 
 der part, to talk to them of fo much meat, and to pity 
 their emaciated flate, without letting them obferve, how- 
 ever, that it was more for my own advantage than theirs, 
 that I was {o defirous of their company. That fame 
 night then, there not only came to me three middle-aged 
 
 men.
 
 22 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 177?- men to offer their fervices, but 1 even faw the three old 
 k^sj' fellows above-mentioned, with great eagernefs and diligence 
 preparing their flioes, in order to be ready the next morn- 
 ing to follow us in our expedition. 
 
 Having given my guide to underfland, how ftrange this 
 condu6l of the Hottentots appeared to me, when I com- 
 pared it with the account they had given of themfelves 
 at firft, at the fame time that from this circumftance I ap- 
 prehended they would prove falfe ; befides, that I doubted, 
 whether we fliould be able to find food for fo many as fix 
 of them, we being five in number ourfelves, which in all 
 made eleven perfons ; he replied, *' Pfhaw ! this is always 
 the Hottentot's cuftom to lye the firfl W' ord they fpeak ; and 
 as for victuals, we fhall get game enough to eat, I'll war- 
 rant you." The latter part of his reply gave me fome 
 fatisfa6tion ; for as to the Hottentots cuflom of lying at 
 the firfl w^ord, I was pretty even with them in that re- 
 fpedl, with my pretended relationfliip to jfan Company. 
 
 On the I oth in the morning we fet out on our journey, 
 being in all eleven perfons. The fix newly-arrived Hot- 
 tentots did not underftand a word of Dutch, on which ac- 
 count we were obliged to make ufe of the three others as 
 interpreters; though, in general, we made them under- 
 ftand us pretty well by figns, and fome few Hottentot 
 words we had learnt the meaning of, and could ourfelves 
 pronounce with the proper clack againft the roof of the 
 mouth. Still, however, Mr. Immelman and I could not 
 be otherwife than anxious abovit the procuring of food for 
 fuch a number of people, when, in cafe of a fcarcity, we 
 expeded to hear them grumbling againft their Mo/es and 
 
 AaroHy
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 23 
 
 Aarbn^ who had enticed them into the defert: for the ^^"75- 
 
 December. 
 
 buffalo which we had chafed the day before got away from v^^y*^ 
 us, though the bufhes in more than one place were ftained 
 with his blood. Upon this, however, we foon obferved, 
 that our volunteer corps, the iix laft Hottentots, made no 
 difficulty of eating, without any preparation whatever, 
 the ill-tafted beans of a wild flirub, (the guaiacum afriim,) 
 I thought I could fhew the Hottentots another fubflance 
 like wife, which might ferve to appeafe their hunger in 
 cafe • of neceffity. This was the gum arabic, which they 
 might gather in many fpots thereabouts from the fnimofa 
 nilotica ; but this was a fpecies of food very well known to 
 them, and which they had often tried. When in want of 
 other provifions, the Bofhies-men are faid to live upon 
 this for many days together. 
 
 This day I faw, for the firfl time, a herd of bofcb-var- 
 kens^ or, as they are likewife called, wilde-varkens^ (wood- 
 fwine, or wild-fwine) in their wild uncultivated ftate ; for 
 I had hitherto only feen one of this fpecies of animals in 
 the menagerie at the Cape. It was confined there with a 
 ftrong iron chain, as it was very wild and vicious. M. 
 Pallas, who in his SpiciL ZooL Fafc. II. p. 1 1. and MifceL 
 ZooL p. 16. has defcribed this animal by the name of aper 
 Mthiopicus^ and given a figure of it, farther informs us in 
 his SpiciL ZooL Fafc. XI. Additam. p. 84. that one of them 
 killed the keeper of the menagerie at Amflerdam. One 
 may eafily conceive that this creature is very dangerous, 
 if one only takes notice of its large tufks, (vide Tab. V. 
 1. c.) Thefe are four in number. Two of them proceed 
 from the upper jaw, and turn upwards like a horn, confift- 
 . 3 ing>,
 
 24 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 J775- ino-, however, of a fine ivory-like fubllance. In a head 
 
 December. '^^ 
 
 \^/y\j of this animal falted and dried, which I gave to the Royal 
 Academy of Sciences in Sweden, the tufks or horns fland 
 nine inches out of the jaws, and meafure full five inches 
 in circumference at the bafe. The two other tufks, which 
 come from the lower jaw, project but three inches from 
 the mouth, being flat on the infide, and correfponding 
 with another plain fur face fimilar to it in the upper tufks. 
 Thefe the beafls make ule of not fo much for biting, as 
 for goring and butting with. A little pig of this fpecies, 
 which I afterwards caught at Fifcb-rivier^ and had it tied 
 up, thinking to bring it alive along with me, had already 
 got this trick, fo that I was foon obliged to let it be 
 killed. It was terribly vicious, and quick in all its mo- 
 tions ; and though at that time not abiblutely dangerous, 
 yet my Bofliies-men were very much afraid of it. " We 
 had rather, faid they, attack a lion on the plain, than an 
 African wild boar ; for this, though much fmaller, comes 
 rufliing on a man as fwift as an arrow, and throwing him 
 down fnaps his legs in two, and rips up his belly before 
 he can get to ftrike it, and kill it with his javelin." The 
 dwelling-place of this fame fpecies of wild boar, to which 
 the avenues feemed to be very narrow, is under-ground. 
 I have been told indeed, that the dofcb-varkens go down 
 into them backwards, and place themfelves there in a row 
 one behind the other ; but this is not very likely, for pro- 
 bably thefe pafTages are widened lower down. Thus much, 
 however, is certain, that people do not dare to attack them 
 in their holes, for fear of their coming out on them on a 
 fudden. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 25 
 
 The body of this animal is fmall in companion with its j^^JJ^^^^^ 
 head, a conformation which faciUtates its burrowing and \^r\-^ 
 living under-ground. Neither would it be advifeable for 
 a man on horfeback to approach too near or to hunt 
 this animal, as it will often turn round on a fudden, and 
 ftriking with its horns at the horfe's legs, afterwards kill 
 both him and his rider. This day I purfued feveral pigs 
 with the old fows, with a view to flioot one of them, but 
 in vain ; neverthelefs, the chafe of them afforded me peculiar 
 pleafure. On a fudden the heads of the old ones, w^hich were 
 before of a tolerable fize, feemed to have grown flill larger and 
 more fliapelefs than they were before; which momentary 
 and wonderful change aftonifhed me fo much the more, 
 as my hard riding over a country full of buflies and pits, 
 had hitherto prevented me from giving fufhcient attention 
 to the manner in which it w^as brought about. The fe- 
 cret, however, conlilled in this ; each of the old ones, 
 while they were making off, took a pig in its mouth; a 
 circumitance that alfo explained to me another fubjedl of 
 my furprize, which was, that all the pigs which I was juil: 
 before chafing along with the old ones, vaniflied all on a 
 fudden. But in this adlion we find a kind of unanimity 
 among the wood-fwine, in which they refemble the tame 
 fpecies, and which they have in a greater degree than many 
 other animals. It is likewife very aflonifliing, that the 
 pigs fhould be carried about in this manner between fuch 
 large tufks as thofe of their mothers, without being hurt, or 
 crying out in the leafl. I faw the fame done, however, on two 
 other occafions, as I was chafing them. The cry of thefe 
 
 Vol. II. E young
 
 26 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^77?- younff ones vv^-s like that of our common pigs, as I found m 
 
 December. ;, -- i , 
 
 v.y-v-v^ fome wc afterwards caught. 
 
 I have it from pretty good authority, that one Joshua 
 DE Boer, a farmer in Camdebo, had fucceeded in obtaining a 
 brood of thefe wood-fwine, which had been coupled with the 
 ordinary fort ; but as the perfon who told it me had not 
 fufficiently informed himfelf concerning the circumftances, 
 I could not get any farther infight into the matter. This 
 experiment having failed in Holland, as mentioned by M. 
 Pallas, is no reafon why it fliould not fucceed better in 
 other places. I obferved a peculiar circumftance on my 
 return home through Lange-kloof^ which was, that two 
 tame pigs at a farmer's in that province, not only went 
 dow^n on their knees to graze, but even fucceffively chang- 
 ed this pofture to that of {landing, with the greateft eafe» 
 This faculty the animal feems to have acquired in its fub- 
 terraneous caverns, and it proceeds from the creature's 
 neck being too fhort to be conveniently lowered to the 
 ground. 
 
 The African wood-fwine are likewife diftino'uillied from 
 any other fpecies of fwine, by four peculiar caruncles or ex- 
 crefcences. Two of thefe are broad and flat, being* 
 about two inches over both in length and breadth, and 
 are placed at the diftance of a hand's breadth juft before 
 and underneath the eyes. The other two are fpherical, 
 an inch high, and are fituated on the nofe at three inches 
 diftance, in a Uraight line from behind the jaws. The 
 tail is flatted at the tip ; and this appendage they never 
 fail, either old or young, to hold quite ere6t in the air 
 
 during
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 27 
 
 during the whole time that they are purfued. With re- ^iis- 
 fpe<Sl to tafte, I found the flefh very much refemble that \,.^y^ 
 of the ordinary pig ; but never obferved the animals them- 
 felves to be of that dark hue afcribed to them by M. Pallas, 
 and which M. Vosmaer has given them in the coloured 
 figures he has publiflied ; thofe that I faw being only of 
 a bright yellow-colour, like the greateft part of our do- 
 meftic fwine. Neither did I hear any body in the colony 
 call them haartloopers^ as M. Vosmaeh pretends they are 
 termed : though, on the other hand, I have frequently 
 heard the Hottentots call them kaunaba^ and have like wife 
 been informed by them, that thefe creatures are fond of 
 Avallowing in the mire, and are wont to grub after the 
 root of a fhrub of the mefembryanthemum kind, which 
 they call da-fkat. 
 
 At night we came to the upper part of fKurenoi, or 
 Little Sunday-river. We fixed our re (ling-place at the 
 diftance of a few gun-fliots from a clan of baflards^ or 
 Hottentot-Caffres^ w^ho are the offspring of the mixture of 
 both thefe nations. They chiefly fpoke the Caffre lan- 
 guage, but had neither the large lips, robull, and eafy 
 form, nor the black complexion of the Caffres, They 
 appeared to me not fo fwarthy as my own Hottentots, and 
 I fuppofe, that they originate only from a fet of people, 
 who having acquired fome cattle by fervitude among the 
 Caffres, had formed themfelves into this fociety. The 
 iris of their eyes was of a very dark brown hue, and al- 
 mofl, if not quite as dark as the pupil. They had a great 
 xjug,ntity of cattle, and feemed to live very happily in their 
 
 E a way.
 
 28 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^775- way. As foon as ever they had taken thek cattle up from 
 
 December. ^ -it •• i • t • • i 
 
 v^^YxJ pafture they milked them ; an occupation they intermixed 
 with finging and dancing. 
 
 We feldom fee fuch happinefs and contentment as feems to 
 be indicated by this feflive cuftom, in a handful of people 
 totally uncultivated, and fublifting in their original favage 
 ftate, in the midft of a perfect defert. Mr. Immelman 
 accompanied me, in order to behold with his own eyes 
 the real archetype of that flate of paftoral felicity, which 
 the poets are continually occupied in painting and defcrib- 
 ing. We announced ourfelves here likewife as being the 
 children of the company,, and were received by them with 
 a friendly fimplicity and homely freedom, which, how- 
 ever, by no means leflened them in our thoughts as men. 
 They prelented us with milk, and danced at our requefl: ; 
 at the fame time giving us to underftand, that our fame, 
 as being a lingular people with plaited hair, as wxll as fim- 
 plers and viper-catchers, had reached them long before 
 our arrival. 
 
 We were fpe6lators of their country dances, in which 
 there was very little either of agility or art. While their 
 feet were employed in a kind of ftamping and moderately 
 flow movement, every one of them between whiles made 
 feveral fmall gentle motions with a little flick, which they 
 held in their hands. The fimplicity which prevailed in 
 their dances was equally confpicuous in their finging, the 
 following being all the words ufed to the tune of one of 
 their country dances, which I took down in writing at 
 the time, Maijema^ Maijema, bub, bub, hub. The former 
 7 part
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 29 
 
 part of this was chaunted repeatedly piano by an elderly i775- 
 matron, who was anfwered by the young men and maids v^v^-' 
 in the latter words, fung Jiaccato by way of chorus. It 
 muft be confelTed, that this concert was not well adapt- 
 ed to fatisfy a nice ear; but however, it infpired a certain 
 degree of joy and chearfulnefs, and was by no means dif- 
 agreeable. 
 
 They had another kind of dance, which confifled in 
 taking each other by the hand, and dancing gently in a 
 circle round about one or more perfons, who were placed 
 in the middle of the ring, and whofe movements were 
 brifker and quicker ; yet we could not help laughing, 
 though at the fame time we were not a little hurt, to fee 
 the poor infants pop their heads alternately in and out of 
 the bags hanging at the backs of their mothers, who were 
 likewife dancing ; fo that we had great reafon to fear that 
 they would break their necks. But what was ftill more 
 ridiculous was, that thefe little Hottentots were far from 
 ihev/ing any diflike to this treatment ; but, on the con- 
 trary, were fo well pleafed with it, that they fufficiently 
 fhewed their difpleafure by crying, when their mothers, who 
 were foon tired with carrying them on their backs, wanted 
 to fet them down, or go out of the dance. 
 
 Befides the pleafures which thefe daily dances may be 
 fuppofed to afford them, they have at their greater fefti- 
 vals the more delightful enjoyment of voluptuous love, 
 which, at thofe times, the youth of both fexes, by their 
 laws, have full opportunity given them to purfue. For it 
 is faid, that the unmarried part of the company, in the 
 
 very
 
 30 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 J77v very middle of the dance, withdraw to a private place in 
 \,rr>J couples fuccelTively and at different intervals, without giv- 
 ing the leaft fubjedl of offence and fcandal, and without 
 having any occalion to biufli when they return again to the 
 company. I have purpofely faid only, that opportunity is 
 given them for this purpose ; as I could not learn, whether 
 their laws, together with the opportunity, allowed the ac- 
 tion itfelf, which, as I have mentioned above, the Caftres 
 permit themfelves to tranfadt in the pi:efence of the whole 
 company that is dancing. 
 
 This remiffnefs of their laws, however, in allowing them 
 opportunities of this kind, feems to be in dire6f oppofition 
 to the rigorous flri6lnefs of thefe fame laws in the follow- 
 ing particular. Any young woman whatfoever, who, after 
 fuch dance, fliall prove pregnant, fliall be put to death, 
 together with her paramour ; unlefs, which indeed is ge- 
 nerally the cafe, the oldeft people in the clan mitigate the 
 punifhment, by commuting it into a perpetual union ; or- 
 dering them moreover, to forfeit an ox or a cow to feaft 
 the whole community with, by way of atonement for their 
 crime. In this latter article of the mitigation of the de- 
 cree, it is not difficult to perceive the felfifli motives of the 
 fociety ; but it is, perhaps, not fo eafy from this ffrange . 
 edidf itfelf, to trace out the intention of the primitive in- 
 ftitutor of it. Befides, who could have fuppofed, that 
 among thefe artlefs herdfmen another cuftom fhould pre- 
 vail, which lliould facrifice the virtue and innocence of the 
 fair fex to the interefted views of a parent or guardian ? 
 A Hottentot, \yho.at that time dwelt in thofe parts, affured 
 
 me.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 31 
 
 me, that on any Hottentot's paying a fiipulated price to a ^'775- 
 
 i > o X X December. 
 
 gill's relations, ilie Was obliged to ileep with hirn ; but that v^-^-v^u 
 neither did the law ordain, nor had there been any in- 
 ftance known, that a young woman ihould be delivered 
 lip into the arms of a Chriftian, or white man, on any 
 confideration whatever. The Hottentot added, that for his 
 part, he had not entered into any union here of the kind, 
 as for two, or at sjioil three nights enjoyment, it would 
 have colt him the price of a cow ; a price, he faid, that 
 would have made him dearly repent his bargain. 
 
 This Hottentot, who explained to me the circumftances 
 I have jull been mentioning, and at the fame time gave me 
 many other curious anecdotes and relations, I had the greater 
 reafon to believe, as he had the appearance of being a 
 ferious and difcreet man, and indeed was known to be 
 fuch by my guide. He had been brought up in a village 
 near the Chriilians, in the fervice of whom he had always 
 been ; and at this time, with the ailillance of the baftard 
 or CafFre Hottentots belonging to this craal, he had caught, 
 and then had in bis cuftody, three old Bofliies-women with 
 their children, with an intention to take them home to his 
 mailer for ilaves. His mafter had given him a gun, but 
 he was at that time quite out of powder, confequently he 
 was put to his fiiifts for food, both for himfelf and his 
 captives. I therefore gave him fome powder, as I con- 
 fidered, that, fo far from having any effe^l in riveting the 
 chains of thefe unhappy people, it would rather tend to 
 make them fit lighter. He told me likewife, that his fe- 
 male captives had threatened to bewitch him ; but that 
 
 he
 
 3^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^ '775- he had no faith m witchcraft, and had an equal contempt 
 
 T)ccember. -^ *■ 
 
 ^^•vO for their menaces and their favage manners. 
 
 A baflard Hottentot, who had accompanied him in this 
 expedition, had been wounded in the flioulder with a poi- 
 ibned arrow. The poifon had been fucked out of the 
 v/ound immediately. The tumour had not abfolutely a 
 bad appearance ; yet the wounded man was by no means 
 well, and was himfelf in doubt whether he fhould get over 
 it or not. Nothing was laid upon it but the bruifed leaves 
 of the Hottentot fig-tree. 
 
 They keep their milk in leathern facks, of which I have 
 given a defcription above, never eating it till it is curdled ; 
 but the veiTels they milked it into were bafkets of a pecu- 
 liar kind, compofed of roots plaited together fo curioully, 
 and in fo clofe a manner, that they would not only hold 
 milk but even water. Thefe veflels would be as neat as 
 they are light, if the Hottentots did not always negle6t to 
 wafh them. Indeed, moft of thefe bafkets had acquired 
 fuch an appearance from the milk being encrufted upon 
 them, as at firft induced us to fuppofe that they were be- 
 fmeared with cow-dung^ in order to make them hold the 
 liquor the better. But I have fince tried bafkets, that were 
 quite new and clean, particularly one that I had brought 
 home with me^ and found, that without any kind of daub- 
 ing, they did not leak in the leaft. Thefe milk-pails, or 
 bafkets, are moftly of the fhape of that delineated in Plate I. 
 Vol. I. fig. I . holding from a pint and a half to four gallons ; 
 and befides the advantage of being very light, they have 
 lik^ewife that of their rims bein^ fufficiently pliable. 
 
 No
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. ^^ 
 
 No cows of the African breed, whether they belong to j^J/^l^^^^ 
 the colonifts or Hottentots, will fufFer themlelves to be ^^v-vj 
 milked, without their hind legs being firft tied together ; 
 as they otherwife never fail either to kick the perfons who 
 milk them, or get away from them. The interpreter, I 
 have been jull fpeaking of, defired me, therefore, to ob- 
 ferve here, as being an uncommon circumflance, that feve- 
 ral of the cows belonging to thefe baftard Caffres, allowed 
 themfelves to be milked without being tied up. I likewife 
 remarked, that the cows here, whether tied up or loofe, 
 were, for the moft part, too fhy and wild to fufFer them- 
 felves to be milked, except their calves were with them, 
 and had previoufly fucked them a little. The herdfmen 
 themfelves in this place were alfo delirous that I fliould 
 take notice, as a matter of curiolity, of the manner in 
 which a cow, who had brought forth a dead calf, was at 
 length induced to be milked. The artifice ufed for this 
 purpofe, conlifted in letting her always put her nofe in the 
 Ikin of her dead calf jufl before flie was milked. 
 
 Gircumcifion is practifed by thefe Hottentots as well as 
 by the Goiiaquas and Caffres^ and is performed upon youths 
 at that period of life, when, to ufe their own expreffion, 
 they become half-men. Yet they generally fuit the time 
 fo, as to have an opportunity of performing the operation 
 upon feveral at once. 
 
 The next morning, being the nth, we were waked by 
 the Hottentots Tinging and dancing ; and with this rejoicing, 
 or, at leaft, appearance of happinefs and delight, it feems 
 that this fimple race of people always begin and con- 
 
 VOL. II. F elude
 
 34 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 1775- elude the day. We likewife paid a vifit to them that 
 
 December. . v r i? j • i 
 
 ^s^rys^ morning, but loon lound it more prudent to return to our 
 v/aggon again ; as a great number of them now came to 
 pay their refpecSls to us, and at the fame time became more 
 troublefome than ever, by importuning us for tobacco. I 
 do not know whether I fliould look upon it as a mark 
 of the greatelt limplicity, or as a witty and ingenious 
 compliment in one of them, who defired my inter- 
 preter to tell me, that he had never feen a waggon be- 
 fore, and therefore wiflied me to inform him, whether 
 mine had grown up in the fame ftate in which he then 
 faw it. 
 
 In the mean while, in order to obtain a truce from their 
 tirefome practice of peftering us for tobacco, v/e excited their 
 aftonifliment by fhewing them our watches. I even at- 
 tempted to acquire fome refped; from thefe people, as not 
 being without fome knowledge of magic. This, it may 
 well be fuppofed, did not proceed from any mifplaced am- 
 bition, but rather from motives of prudence, and with a 
 view by this means of curbing their growing deiires, which 
 might probably terminate in fome bold attempts on the 
 iron-work of our waggon. Sec. For this purpofe I bid 
 thefe Hottentots, and at the fame time my own, endeavour 
 to take fome quickfilver with their fingers out of a parcel 
 of it which I had brought with me. The various attempts 
 they made ftill proving abortive, excited in them the great- 
 eft aftonifliment, and proved an inexhauftible fubjedl to 
 them of converfation and laughter. Afterwards, to their 
 utter amazement, I took out feveral globules of quick- 
 7 - lilver^
 
 CAPE G F G t) O D HOPE. 35 
 
 filver, having previoullv, unperceived by them, rubbed ^77$- 
 my fingers over with tallow. Neither did I omit aftoniflT.- \^^^-o 
 ing thefe fimple fwains, with the wonderful magnetic pro- 
 perties of the needle belonging to my compafs. I remem- 
 ber, indeed, having read fomewhere of a certain great 
 commander, who, being in America, in order to intimi- 
 date the natives, and make them behave peaceably, fet 
 fire to fome brandy, which they took for water, at the 
 fame time threatening to fet fire to their rivers and burn 
 them up ; but I had no occafion to have recourfe to ex- 
 tremities, as the miracles I had before performed, feemed 
 already to have deterred them from attempting any hofti- 
 lities. — It was particularly from thefe baltard Caffres, that 
 I got the CafFre words, which are to be found at the end 
 of this volume. 
 
 The government of this community, was faid to be chiefly 
 veiled in a man, who at the fame time was pointed out to 
 me as being the richefl among them. He held this ofB.cQ 
 by inheritance, and appeared to be a fober, fedate, mid- 
 dle aged man. His manner difcovered no particular pre- 
 eminence or authority ; on the contrary, he had more 
 trouble with the milking than any of the reft. So that 
 riches, even among the uncultivated Hottentots, are attended 
 with uneafinefs and trouble. 
 
 There was another perfon here, whofe bufy manner, 
 continual chattering and gefticulation, plainly denoted, that 
 he was a man in office, and of fome confequence. In fa(fl:, 
 he was the forcerer (as they term it) of the community ; 
 and confequeutly, by virtue of his office, was mafter of the 
 
 F 2 cere-
 
 36 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 »775- ceremonies, high prieft, phyfician, and cow-leach ; and 
 v^^^J)^* of himfelf, independently of any office whatever, an arch 
 Charlatan ; who, hy his drolleries and ridiculous antic gef- 
 tures, endeavoured to diflinguifh himfelf from the reft, 
 and was perpetually exciting the young people to dance. 
 As I w^as not ignorant, that the Charlatans in the better 
 informed and more enlightened focieties of Europe, fre- 
 quently, by means of their defpicable talents, thruft them- 
 felves into offices of the higheft importance and the ac- 
 quiHtion of riches, I do not in the leaft wonder to hear, 
 that this fellow, befides being univerfally refpe6led, was 
 in pofTeffion of a greater Hock of cattle than any one among 
 them. I was like wife informed, that for delivering a cow^ 
 which had a difficvilt labour, he ufually had an heifer for 
 his fee ; and that at every feaft, the beft and fatteft piece 
 fell to his fhare. 
 
 In the northern climates I had been ufed to fee fox tails 
 worn to keep out the cold. Here I faw, for the firft time, 
 the tails of the jack all, or African fox, made ufe of in 
 warm weather ; as the Hottentots wiped the fweat off their 
 faces with them, for this purpofe carrying them about with 
 them fixed upon Ihort flicks. Having now fufficiently con- 
 templated the manners of thefe people, we proceeded on our 
 journey ; and, as in the mean time our guide had given us 
 the flip, and fhot an old, lean, and loufy buffalo, we made 
 a trip to the place where it lay, and loaded our waggon 
 with the beft part of the meat, leaving the remainder to 
 the baftard Hottentots, the birds of prey, and the hysenas. 
 The lice that we found upon this buffalo, were of a new 
 
 fpecies ;
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 37 
 
 fpecies ; (fee the defcription, together with a drawing of ^775- 
 them, in Mejn, fur les InfeSfeSy Tom. VII.) \Jr^/Kj 
 
 We afterwards drove higher up, along Kuranoi-rivier^ 
 and found the water there almoft motionlefs and brackifh. 
 We had the tops and grafs of the reeds growing in this 
 little ftream cut off, to fodder our horfes with at night. 
 At night, the wolves which probably had got fcent of the 
 meat in our waggon, gave us to underftand by their bowl- 
 ings, that they were not far from us. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 38 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 C H A P. XI. 
 
 Journey from little Simdays-river to BaJJiies-manS" 
 
 river. 
 
 177S' f^^^ ^^^ 1 2th our guide took us firft to the eafl and 
 ^^ry-v;* ^^ then to the fouth-eaft, over a champain country, 
 that we might bait and water our cattle at noon. This we 
 did at a land fpring, which had been very much trampled 
 under foot by the buffaloes, and which had no outlet. 
 But at the diflance of an hour's ride from thence, we found 
 better water, and came to a refolution to put up the fol- 
 lov/ing night not far from the fpot, in order to be ready 
 in the morning to look out after the buffaloes ; as it is in 
 places juft like thefe,that they particularly come out into the 
 meadows to graze ; but, on the contrary, in the day time, 
 on account of the heat, they generally choofe to keep in 
 the woods. 
 
 It had not been dark two hours, before we heard the 
 roaring of lions, which at times appeared to be pretty near 
 us. This was the firft time that I had heard this kind 
 of mufic, and, as there were feveral performers, it might 
 be properly called a concerto of lions. They continued 
 roaring the whole night, whence my guide concluded, that 
 
 they
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 39 
 
 they had alTembled on the plains in order to coDulate, and ^ ^775- 
 
 ^ December. 
 
 carry on their amours, by fighting and attacking each other v^^^vnJ 
 after the manner of cats. 
 
 To defcribe the roaring of the Hon as nearly as I can, I 
 muil inform the reader, that it conliiled in a hoarfe inar- 
 ticulate found, which at the fame time feemed to have a 
 hollownefs in it, fomething like that proceeding from a 
 fpeaking trumpet. The found is between that of a Ger- 
 man U and an O, being drawn to a great length, and ap- 
 pearing as if it came from out of the earth ; at the fame 
 time that, after hftening with the greatefl attention, I could 
 not exactly hear from what quarter it came. The found 
 of the lion's voice does not bear the leaft refemblance to 
 thunder, as M. de Buffon, Tom. IX. p. 22, from the 
 Voyage of Boullaye le Gouz, affirms it does. In fa6l, 
 it appeared to me to be neither peculiarly piercing nor tre- 
 mendous ; yet from its flow prolonged note, joined with 
 no6lurnal darknefs, and the terrible idea one is apt to form 
 to one's felf of this animal, it made one fhudder, even in 
 fuch places, as I had an opportunity of hearing it in with 
 more fatisfadlion, and without having the leafl: occafion for 
 fear. We could plainly perceive by our animals, when the 
 lions, whether they roared or not, were reconnoitering us at 
 a fmall diftance. For in that cafe the hounds did not dare to 
 bark in the leaft, but crept quite clofe to the Hottentots ; and 
 our oxen and horfes iighed deeply, frequently hanging back, 
 and pulling flowly with all their might at the ftrong ftraps 
 w^ith which they were tied up to the waggon. They likewife 
 laid themfelves down upon the ground and ftoodup alternate- 
 ly, appearing as if they did not know what to do with them- 
 felves I
 
 40 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775- felves ; and, indeed, I may fay, jufl as if they were in 
 
 December. ./-,■,, i • xt 
 
 K.yy^j the agonies of death. In the mean time, my Hottentots 
 made the neceffary preparations, and laid each of them 
 their javelins by the fide of them. We like wife loaded all 
 our five pieces, three of which we diftributed among thofe 
 of our Hottentots who fpoke Dutch. 
 
 Fires and fire-brands are univerfally reckoned, and, in- 
 deed, were faid by my Hottentots, to be a great preferva- 
 tive and defence againffc lions and other wild beafts ; they 
 
 ' could, however, themfelves mention inflances, in which 
 
 the lion had leaped forward to the fire, and carried off 
 fome one of them, who had been fitting round it and 
 warming themfelves. The animal too has fometimes taken 
 its prey to fo fhort a diftance, that the poor wTetch's com- 
 panions have plainly heard it champing and chewing his 
 flefli. The Hottentots defired us who were placed in the 
 waggon, not to be in too great hafle to fire in cafe a lion 
 fliould take a leap among them, for fear that in the dark 
 we might at the fame time hurt fome of them. They had 
 concerted matters fo, that fome of them fliould rather at- 
 tempt to pierce him through with their haflagais or fpears, 
 while at the fame inftant the others fliould endeavour to 
 cling about its legs. 
 
 They looked upon it as a certain fadl, and I have fince 
 heard the fame from others, that a lion does not imme- 
 diately kill the perfon he has got under him, unlefs he is 
 excited to do fo by the refifl:ance he meets with. At length, 
 however, it is reported, the royal tyrant gives the coup de 
 grace on the vi6lim's breafi: with a hideous roar. On this 
 Dccafion I mult do my Hottentots the jufl:ice to fay, that 
 
 they
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 4.1 
 
 they did not lliew the leaft fear; thousrh they conceived ^^'^7^- 
 
 J , December, 
 
 the old and commonly-received notion to be abfolutely v^vsJ 
 true, that both lions and tigers would attack a ilave or a 
 Hottentot, before they will a colonift or a white man. 
 Confequently, Mr. Immelman and I had no fuch great 
 reafon to be in fear for our own perfons, unlefs more than 
 one lion fhould come to attack us, or that we fliould dif- 
 charge our pieces too precipitately and mifs him; for in 
 fuch a cafe, the lion always rufhes on the markfman. In 
 another refpedt, however, we that lay in the waggon and 
 at a diflance from the fire, were moll liable to receive a 
 vifit from the lions ; or at leafl to fee our horfes and oxen, , 
 which were tied up to the waggon, feized by them. 
 Otherwife, for the fingularity of the fpe6lacle, I fliould 
 have been glad to have feen an attack of this kind, if it 
 had not coft me more than a couple of my oxen. In 
 fuch a cafe, indeed, my horfes would probably firft have 
 fallen a prey to this rapacious animal, as it is generally 
 fuppofed, that the lion gives them the preference. 
 
 Among our oxen there was one which at this time, as well 
 as fince upon other fimilar occafions, appeared extremely dif- 
 quieted and reftlefs. It had befides, a fingular and aflo- 
 nifliing habit of making an inward noife, which cannot 
 be defcribed ; and this was the cafe likewife with the Hone- 
 horfe, in his own peculiar way. This, in fadt, was fuffi- 
 cient to make us keep ourfelves in readinefs, though it 
 happened not to be abfolutely neceffary : however, we 
 quickly got accuftomed to it, and feveral times laid our- 
 felves down to fleep, void of care, leaving our beafts to figh 
 on unheeded. It is, indeed, a wonderful circumftance, that 
 
 Vol. IL G the
 
 ^2 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^Ti^- the brute creation fliould have been taught merely by nature 
 
 December. i i r t r 
 
 ^•v>J to be in dread of the hon; for our horfes and oxen were 
 all from places, where I am certain they could have no 
 knowledge of this dreadful adverfary of theirs : fo that 
 in this we mufl admire the bounty of providence, which, 
 while it has fent fuch a tyrant as the lion amongil the 
 animal creation, has likewife taught them to difcern and 
 diftinguifli it with trembling and horror. 
 
 One would fuppofe, that the roaring of the lion would 
 prove ferviceable to the other animals, as being a warning 
 for them to betake themfelves to flight \ but as when he 
 roars, according to all report, he puts his mouth to the 
 ground, fo that the found is diffufed equally all over the 
 place, without, as we have already mentioned, its being 
 poffible to hear from what quarter it comes, the animals 
 are intimidated and feared to fuch a degree, as to fly about 
 backwards and forwards in the dark to every fide ; in con- 
 fequence of which, fome of them may eaiily chance to run 
 on to the very fpot from whence the tremendous found 
 adlually proceeds, and which they meant moft to avoid. 
 
 A writer, in other refpe^ts extremely rational, who 
 flyles himfelf Officier du Rot, afTerts, in his Voyage a Vlfle 
 de Finance, 8cc. p. 63, that in Africa there are found 
 whole armies of lions; a fa6l of which, he fays, he was 
 informed, by three perfons of confequence in the govern- 
 ment, whofe names he mentions. 
 
 This author, as well as his informers, and thofe, if fuch 
 there be, who have given any credit to him, may be eafily 
 made to conceive the palpable abfurdity of the idea by 
 this lingle conlideration, that to fupport armies of lions, 
 
 it
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 4. J 
 
 it would require a greater quantit3/ of quadrupeds and j^J/g^^ber. 
 game, as it is called, than is to be found not only in Afri- ^s.yy^^ 
 ca, but in all the world beiides. In order to confirm this 
 affertion, we may appeal to a witty obfervation made by the 
 Indians, and reported by Lafitau. " It is a very fortu- 
 nate circumllance, faid they, tnat the Portuguefe are as 
 few in number as they are cruel in their difpolitions ; juft 
 as it is with the tigers and lions with refpe6t to the reft of 
 the animal creation, or otherwife there would foon be an 
 end of us men." 
 
 With regard to the teftimonies of the perfons of confe- 
 quence here appealed to, I muft beg leave to obferve,that we 
 may at any time, without the leaft hefitation, call in queftion 
 any polition which militates againft common fenfe. Be- 
 iides, in the Eaft-Indies, knowledge and the appearance of 
 truth are not always abfolutely infeparable from authority. 
 I myfelf have heard a man belonging to the council at the 
 Cape, relate to ftrangers the moft ridiculous abfurdities con- 
 cerning the country in which he lived. Stories of this kind 
 often orignate from the farmers and yeomen, who come 
 from a great diftance, and who often find their account in 
 amufing their rulers with pleafing tales; which, the more 
 wonderful they are, with the greater avidity they arc fwal- 
 lowed. Another fource of thefe falfe reports is in the de- 
 praved difpofition of mankind, who are very prone to im- 
 pofe as much as they can on the credulity of the weak 
 and fimple. Admitting it to be true, that the Romans 
 introduced into their public fpedlacles a great nvimber of 
 lions, which, indeed, they might eafily colle6l frcMii the 
 extenfive trads of country they polTefied in Africa and 
 
 G 2 Afia,
 
 44 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 _ ^77v Afia, yet it never can be confonant either with truth or pro* 
 
 December. ^ 
 
 L-n-O bability, that armies of lions fliould be found in thefe quarters 
 of the globe, where only, according to the very probable poii- 
 tion of M. DE BuFFON, they exifl. So that when a later writer,, 
 the Abbe de Manet, in his defcription of tht northern 
 part of Africa, affirms, that the fame kind of Hon is like- 
 wife found in America, we may fafely confider this merely 
 as a hafly afTertion, which is not warranted either by the au- 
 thority of others or by his own experience : indeed, this 
 author's teflimony is much more to be credited when he in- 
 forms us, that the " Negroes in the northern parts of Africa, 
 are ufed to catch lions in pits, but do not dare to eat any 
 of the iiefli, for fear left the other lions lliould be re- 
 venged on them." In tliis particular, however, I have not 
 found the Hottentots or inhabitants of the fouthern parts 
 of Africa equally fuperftitious, as they told me, that they 
 ate the flefh of lions, and looked iipon it to be both good 
 and wholefome. They likewife informed me, that the 
 lions as well as hyrenas, had been formerly much bolder 
 than they are at prefent, as they ufed to feize them at 
 night, and carry them off from their cottages : at the 
 fame time they alTured me, that a lion that had once tafted 
 human flefli would never after, if he could help it, prey 
 upon any other. They added, that for the fame reafon 
 they were obliged to fix benches up in trees to fleep on ; 
 fo that they could not fo readily be caught unawares by the 
 lions, and might likewife the eafier defend themfelves when 
 they were attacked by them. 
 
 So that, in fa6l, they were obliged to acknowledge, that 
 with the afliftance of the Ghriitians and their iire-arms, 
 
 they
 
 CAPE or GOOD HOPE. 45 
 
 they are at prefent much lefs expofed to the ravages of j^^'^^^V^,^ 
 this fierce animal ; while, on the other hand, I could not V-^y^o 
 but agree with them^ that the colonifts themfelves were a 
 much greater fcoiirge to them than all the wild beads of 
 their country put together ; as the Hottentot nations, fince 
 the arrival of the colonifts in this part of the world, have 
 found themfelves reduced to a much narrower fpace in their 
 pofleUions,, and their numbers very much decreafed. 
 
 In thefe times,, at leaft,, the lion does not willingly at- 
 tack any animal openly, unlefs provoked, or extremely 
 hungry ; in which latter cafe he is faid to fear no danger,, 
 and to be repelled by no refiftance. The method in which 
 the lion takes his prey, is almoft always to fpring or throw 
 himfelf on it, with one vaft leap from the place of his 
 concealment ; yet, if he chances to mifs his leap, he wilL 
 not, as the Hottentots unanimoufly affured me, follow his 
 prey any farther; but, as though he were afhamed, turn- 
 ing round towards the place where he lay in ambufh,. 
 flowly, and flep by flep, as it were, meafures the exadl 
 length between the two points, in order to find how much 
 too fhort of, or beyond the mark he had taken his leap. 
 One of thefe animals, however, was once known to purfue 
 an elk-antilope with the greatefl eagernefs and ardour, with- 
 out any one getting to fee the end of the chafe. It is lin- 
 gular, that the foxes in Europe, according to M. Collonn's 
 Hijl. Nouv, de PUnivers^ Tom. IV. p. 20. when they have 
 leaped fhort of their mark, and their prey has got away 
 from them, meafure the length of their leap, in the fame 
 manner as the lioa does.. 
 
 It
 
 46 A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 i775< It is particularly near rivers and fprings, that the lion 
 \^,yy^ finds it beft anfwers his purpofe to lie in wait. Any ani- 
 rnal whatever that is obliged to go thither in order to 
 quench its thirft, is in danger, tanquam cants ad Nilunty 
 of becoming a vi6tini to the irrefiftible power of this 
 blood- thirfty tyrant. 
 
 It fliould feem, that in cafe gazels, and other fuch ani- 
 mals had fcent of the lion when he was near them, as 
 Itrong as it appeared to be in my horfes and oxen, they 
 might eafily avoid the danger. I do not know how the fa6t 
 really ftands ; but it is poffible that the lion, like the fportf- 
 men of this country, may know fo well how to chufe the 
 place of its concealment, that the wind may drive its effluvia 
 from the fide whence it might be perceived by its prey. 
 
 Following the example of other travellers in fuch tradls 
 of this part of Africa as are infefted by lions, we always 
 took the precaution to make loud cracks with our large 
 ox-whip, whenever we were going to pafs a river. Thefe 
 cracks of a whip, which, in fa6t, make a louder noife, and 
 a greater vibration in the air than the difcharge from a 
 piftol, nay, are heard much farther than the report of a 
 gun, is looked upon as a very efficacious method of fearing 
 away wild bealls, Thefe large whips feem, therefore, to 
 have contributed not a little to the greater degree of dread 
 which, fince the arrival of the colonifts, the lions have of 
 mankind. 
 
 The lion's method of taking its prey, as defcribed above, 
 
 is not, however, probably, fo univerfal as to be without 
 
 exception. Soon after my arrival at the Cape, I heard 
 
 6 fpeak
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 47 
 
 fpeak of a married womanj who fomewhere in the Carrow Deceni'ber. 
 country was killed at her own door by a lion, which like- ^^^^"^"^ 
 wife ate up her hand ; though others, indeed, thought fhe 
 came by her death in a different manner. Several farmers 
 related to me the following lingular freak of a lion ia 
 Camdebo, 
 
 " A few years ago a farmer on horfeback, with a led' 
 horfe in hand, met with a lion, which had laid itfelf down 
 in the public road where the farmer was to pafs. Thus 
 circumflanced, he thought it moft advifeable to turn back, 
 but found the lion had taken a circle, and laid itfelf in his 
 way again ; he was therefore obliged to turn back again,. 
 and fo alternately backwards and forwards. Whether the 
 lion was feared away by feveral more travellers coming up 
 or no, I cannot fay that I recolledt ; for I find, that I have- 
 forgot to make a minute of the ftory, probably, becaufe 
 I did not think my authority fufficiently to be depended- 
 upon. The following occurrence, however, I think I 
 may relate, as being tolerably well authenticated, and ferv- 
 ing to fhew the cowardice and infidious difpofition of the 
 lion. 
 
 " An elderly Hottentot in the fervice of a Chriflian,, 
 near the upper part of Sunday-river on the Camdebo fide,, 
 perceived a lion following him at a great diftance for two* 
 hours together. Thence he naturally concluded, that the 
 lion only waited for the approach of darknefs, in order to' 
 make him his prey ; and in the mean time, could not ex— 
 pecft any other than to ferve for this fierce animal's fupper,. 
 inafmuch as he had no other weapon of defence than a. 
 {tick, and knew that he could not get home before it was- 
 
 dadc-
 
 48 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^ ^77\' dark. But as he was well acquainted with the nature of 
 
 December. ^ 
 
 V^Y>^ -the lion, and the manner of its feizing upon its prey, and 
 at the fame time had leifure betv/een whiles to ruminate 
 on the ways and means in which it was moft likely that 
 his exiftence would be put an end to, he at length hit 
 on a method of faving his life, for which, in fa6l, he had to 
 thank his meditations upon death, and the fmall fkill he had 
 in zoology, (or, to fpeak plainly, his knowledge of the na- 
 ture of animals.) For this purpofe, inftead of making the 
 l)eft of his way home, he looked out ^ov2iklipkrans, (fo they 
 generally call a rocky place level and plain at top, and hav- 
 ing a perpendicular precipice on one fide of it,) and fitting 
 himfelf down on the edge of one of thefe precipices, he 
 found, to his great joy, that the lion likewife made a halt, 
 ;and kept the fame diftance as before. As foon as it grew 
 •dark, the Hottentot Aiding a little forwards, let himfelf 
 -down below the upper edge of the precipice upon fome 
 proje61;ing part or cleft of the rock, where he could juft 
 keep himfelf from falling. But in order to cheat the lion 
 ftill more, he fet his hat and cloak on the flick, making 
 with it at the fame time a gentle motion juft over his head, 
 .and a little way from the edge of the mountain. This crafty 
 .expedient had the defired fuccefs. He did not flay long 
 in that fituation, before the lion came creeping foftly to- 
 wards him like a cat, and miflaking the fkin-cloak for the 
 Hottentot himfelf, took his leap with fuch exa6lnefs and 
 precifion, as to fall headlong down the precipice, dire6lly 
 cClofe to the fnare which had been fet up for him; when 
 .the Hottentot is faid, in his great joy, exultingly to have 
 
 called
 
 GAPEofGOODHOPE. 49 
 
 called out, fkatfi^ an interjection of very extenfive im- -qH^^^ 
 port and Hgnification." ^•ynJ 
 
 This is not the only inftance of lions in Africa being 
 enfnared in the midlt of their leap. In the out-houfes 
 and wafte grounds about farms, where a lion has been 
 upon the watch for fome animal and miffed it, or where 
 they have other reafons to expedl him, they fet up the 
 figure of a man clofe by the fide of feveral loaded guns; 
 fo that thefe difcharge themfelves into the body of the 
 beaft, at the very inftant that he fprings or throws him- 
 felf upon the dreffed figure. 
 
 As this is done with io much eafe and fuccefs, and as 
 they hardly ever think it worth while in Africa to take 
 lions alive, they feldom give themfelves the trouble of 
 catching them by means of pit- falls. From all the mofl 
 credible accounts I could colledt concerning the lions, as 
 well as from what I faw myfelf, I think I may fafely con- 
 clude, that this wild beaft is frequently a great coward ; 
 that is, very deficient in point of courage comparatively 
 to his flrength : on the other hand, however, he often 
 Hiews an unufual degree of intrepidity, of which I will 
 juft mention the following inftance, as it was related to me. 
 
 " A lion had broken into a walled inclofure for cattle 
 through the latticed gate, and done a good deal of damage. 
 The people belonging to the farm, were well affurcd of his 
 coming again by the fame way ; in confequence of which, 
 they flretched a line direcStly acrofs the entrance, fo thick 
 fet with loaded guns, that they mufl neceffarily difcharge 
 themfelves into the lion's body as foon as ever he fliould 
 come, which they firmly expedled he would, to difplace 
 
 Vol. II. H the
 
 50 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 >775- the line with his breaft. But the lion, which came in 
 \^^^^'' the day-time before it was yet dark, and probably had 
 fome fufpicions with refpe6l to the line, ftruck it away with 
 his foot; and without betraying the leaft fear in confequencc 
 of the reports made by the loaded pieces, went on fteadily 
 and carelefs of every thing, and devoured the prey it had 
 left untouched before." 
 
 M. BuFFON (Tom. IX. p. 7.) tells us, on the authority 
 of Marmol and Thevenot, tliat the lions, which in the 
 more cultivated and inhabited parts of Barbary and India, 
 are ufed to experience man's fuperiority, fometimes fuffer 
 themfelves to be intimidated with a few ftrokes of a flick 
 (and that even by women and children) from carrying off 
 their prey. This accords with feveral accounts that I heard 
 at the Cape, of flaves who had had courage enough, with 
 a knife or fome other weapon Itill more iniignificant, to 
 defend their mafter's cattle, which had been attacked in the 
 dark by a lion. 
 
 It is lingular, that the lion, which, according to many, 
 always kills his prey immediately if it belongs to the brute 
 creation, is reported frequently, although provoked, to 
 content himfelf with merely wounding the human fpecies ; 
 or at leaft, to wait fome time before he gives the fatal blow 
 to the unhappy vicStim he has got under him. A farmer, 
 who the year before had the misfortune to be a fpedlator 
 of a lion's feizing two of his oxen, at the very inftant he 
 had taken them out of the waggon, told me, that they 
 immediately fell down dead iipon the fpot clofe to each 
 other; though, upon examining the carcafes afterwards, 
 it appeared that their backs only had been broken. In 
 
 feveral 
 
 b J
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 51 
 
 feveral places through which I pafTed, they mentioned to ^ ^"75' 
 
 CI 1 -1 • /- December, 
 
 me by name a lather and his two Ions, who were faid to v^^v^ 
 be flill Hving, and who being on foot near a river on their 
 eftate in fearch of a Hon, this latter had ruflied out upon 
 them, and thrown one of them under his feet ; the twci 
 others, however, had had time enough to fhoot the lion 
 dead upon the fpot, which had lain almoft acrofs the 
 youth fo nearly and dearly related to them, without hav- 
 ing done him any particular hurt. 
 
 I myfelf faw, near the upper part of Duyven-boek-rivier^ 
 an elderly Hottentot, who at that time (his wounds being 
 flill open) bore under one eye and underneath his cheek- 
 bone the ghaftly marks of the bite of a lion, which did 
 not think it worth his while to give him any other chaftife- 
 ment for having, together with his mafter (whom I alfo 
 knew) and feveral other Chriftians, hunted him with great 
 intrepidity, though without fuccefs. The converfation 
 ran every where in this part of the country upon one Box a, 
 a farmer and captain in the militia, who had lain for fome 
 time under a lion, and had received feveral bruifes from 
 the beaft, having been at the fame time a good deal bitten 
 by him in one arm, as a token to remember him by ; but 
 upon the whole, had, in a manner, had his life given him 
 by this noble animal. The man was faid then to be living 
 in the diftri6l of Artaquas-kloof, 
 
 I do not rightly know how to account for this merciful 
 difpofition towards mankind. Does it proceed from the 
 lion's greater refpe6t and veneration for man, as being equal 
 to, or even a mightier tyrant than himfelf among the 
 animal creation ? or is it merely from the fame caprice, 
 
 tl 2 which
 
 5^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 «775- which has fometimes induced him not only to fpare the 
 
 December. , -i i -i . 
 
 v^^Y'O life of men or brute creatures who have been given up to 
 him for prey, but even to carefs them, and treat them 
 with the greateft kindnefs ? Whims and freaks of this kind 
 have, perhaps, in a great meafure acquired the lion the 
 reputation it has for generoiity ; but I cannot allow this 
 fpecious name, facred only to virtue, to be laviflied upon 
 a wild beafl. Slaves, indeed, and wretches of fervile minds, 
 are wont with this attribute to flatter their greatefi: tyrants ; 
 but with what fliew of reafon can this attribute be bellow- 
 ed upon the mofl powerful tyrant among quadrupeds, be- 
 caufe it does not exercife an equal degree of cruelty upon 
 all occafions ? 
 
 That the lion does not, like the wolf, tiger, and fome 
 other beafts of prey, kill a great deal of game or cattle 
 at one time, perhaps, proceeds from this, that while he 
 is employed in attacking one or two of them, the re- 
 mainder fly farther than it accords with the natural indo- 
 lence of this beafl to follow them. If this be called genero- 
 fity, a cat may be flyled generous with refpe6l to the rats ; 
 as I have feen this creature in the fields among a great 
 number of the latter, where fhe could have made a great 
 havock at once, feize on a fingle one only, and run off 
 with it. The lion and the cat likewife, very much re- 
 femble each other, in partly lleeping out, and partly pafling 
 away in a quiet ina(ftive Hate a great part of their time, 
 in which hxinger does not urge them to go in quell of 
 their prey. 
 
 From what I have already related, and am farther about 
 to mention, we may conclude, that it is not in magnani* 
 
 mity.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 53 
 
 mity, as many will have it to be, but in an infidious and ^*775- 
 
 , J • r y- • 1 December. 
 
 cowardly dilpoiition, blended with a certain degree of v^^v^*-^ 
 pride, that the general character of the lion confiilis : and . 
 that hunger muft naturally have the eiFe6l of now and then 
 infpiring fo ftrong and nimble an animal with. uncommon 
 intrepidity and courage. Moreover, being accuftomed al- 
 ways itfelf to kill its own food, and that with the greateft 
 eafe, as meeting with no refiftance, and even frequently to 
 devour it reeking and weltering in its bloody it cannot but 
 be ealily provoked, and acquire a greater turn for cruelty 
 than for generolity : but, on the other hand, not being ac- 
 cuftomed to meet with any reliftance, it is no wonder that 
 when it does, it Ihould fometimes be faint-hearted and creft- 
 f alien ; and, as I have already faid, fuffer itfelf to be feared away 
 with a cudgel. Here follows another inftance of this fa6t. 
 
 " A yeoman, a man of veracity, (Jacob Kok, of Zee- 
 koe-rivier^) related to me an adventure he had in thefe 
 words : One day walking over his lands with his loaded 
 gun, he unexpe6tedly met with a lion. Being an excel-- 
 lent fhot, he thought himfelf pretty certain, in the por- 
 tion he was in, of killing it, and therefore fired his piece. 
 Unfortunately he did not recolle6l, that the charge had been 
 in it for fome time, and confequently was damp; fo that his 
 piece hung fire, and the ball falling fliort, entered the ground 
 clofe to the lion. In confequence of this he was feized with 
 a panic, and took directly to his feet ; but being foon out of 
 breath, and ciofely purfued by the Hon, he jumped up on 
 a little heap of Hones, and there made a ftand, prefenting 
 the butt-end of his gun to his adverfary, fully refolved to 
 defend his life as well as he could to the utmoft. My 
 
 friend .»
 
 54 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^71 'i' friend did not take upon him to determine, whether this 
 ^.ry-o pofition and manner of his intimidated the lion or not; it 
 had, however, fuch an efFedt upon the creature, that it 
 likewife made a fland : and what was ftill more fingular, 
 laid itfelf down at the diflance of a few paces from the 
 heap of flones feemingly quite unconcerned. The fportf- 
 man, in the mean while, did not dare to Itir a Hep from 
 the fpot ; belides, in his flight he had the misfortune to 
 lofe his powder-horn. At length, after waiting a good 
 half hour, the lion rofe up, and at firft went very flowly, 
 and flep by ftep, as if it had a mind to ileal off; but as 
 foon as it got to a greater diflance, it began to bound 
 away at a great rate. It is very probable, that the lion,, 
 like the hyaena, does not eaiily venture upon aijy creature 
 that makes a Hand againfl it, and puts itfelf in a pofture 
 of defence. It is well known, that it does not, like the 
 hound, find out its prey by the fcent, neither does it openly 
 hunt other animals. At leafl, the only inflance ever known 
 of this, is that which I have mentioned before, in Vol. 
 I. p. 307. in which it is fpoken of as having hunted an 
 elk-ant Hope : though it might poffibly be, that this wild 
 beafl was reduced by extreme hunger to fuch an extraor- 
 dinary expedient. The lion, neverthelefs, is fwift of foot. 
 Two hunters informed me, that an imprudent and fool- 
 hardy companion of theirs, was clofely purfued by a lion 
 in their fight, and very nearly overtaken by it, though he 
 was mounted on an excellent hunter. 
 
 The lion's flrength is confiderable. This animal was 
 once feen at the Cape to take an heifer in his mouth, and 
 though the legs of this latter dragged on the ground, yet 
 
 feemed
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 55 
 
 feemed to carry her off with the fame eafe as a cat does a ^ ^77^- 
 
 December. 
 
 rat. It hkewife leaped over a broad dike with her, with- L^vVi^ 
 out the leaft difficulty. A buffalo, perhaps, would be too 
 cumberfome for this beaft of prey, notwithftanding his 
 flrength, to feize and carry off with him in the manner 
 above-mentioned. Two yeomen, upon whofe veracity I 
 can place fome confidence, gave me the following account 
 relative to this matter. 
 
 " Being a hunting near Bq/hies-man-rivier with feveral 
 Hottentots, they perceived a lion dragging a buffalo front 
 the plain to a neighbouring woody hill. They, however,' 
 foon forced it to quit its prey, in order to make a prize of 
 it themfelves ; and found that this wild beaft had had the 
 fagacity to take out the buffalo's large and unwieldy entrails, 
 in order to be able the ealier to make off with the fiefhy 
 and more eatable part of the carcafe. The wild beaft, 
 however, as foon as he faw from the fkirts of the wood, 
 that the Hottentots had begun to carry off the flefti to the 
 waggon, frequently peeped out upon them, and probably 
 with no little mortification." The lion's ftrength, however, 
 is faid not to be fufficient alone to get the better of fo large 
 and ftrong an animal as the buffalo; but, in order to make 
 it his prey, this fierce creature is obliged to have recourfe 
 both to agility and ftratagem ; infomuch, that ftealing on 
 the buffalo, it faftens with both its paws upon the noftrils 
 and mouth of the beaft, and keeps fqueezing them clofe 
 together, till at length the creature is ftrangled, wearied 
 out, and dies. A certain colonift, according to report, had 
 had an opportunity of feeing an attack of this kind ; and 
 others had reafon to conclude, that fomething of this na- 
 ture
 
 56 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 Dec"emb^r ^^^^"^ ^^^^ palTecl, froHi feeing buffaloes, which had efcaped 
 ^^-^^s^ from the chitches of hons, and bore the marks of the claws 
 of thefe animals about their mouth and nofe. They alTert- 
 ed, however, that the lion itfelf rifqued its life in fuch at- 
 tempts, efpecially if any other buffalo was at hand to 
 refcue that which was attacked. It was faid, that a tra- 
 veller once had an opportunity of feeing a female buffalo 
 with her calf, defended by a river at her back, keep for a 
 long time at bay five lions which had partly furrounded 
 her, but did not (at leaft as long as the traveller looked on) 
 dare to attack her. I have been informed from very good 
 authority, that on a plain to the eaft of Kromme-rivier^ 2l 
 lion had been gored and trampled to death by a herd of 
 cattle ; having, urged probably by hunger, ventured to 
 attack them in broad day-light. 
 
 This the reader w^ill, perhaps, not fo much wonder at, 
 when he is told, that in the day-time, and upon an open 
 plain, twelve or fixteen dogs will eafily get the better of a large 
 lion. There is no neceflity for the dogs, with which the 
 lion is to be hunted, to be very large and trained up to the 
 fport, as M. Buff on thinks they fliould be, the bufinefs 
 being perfedly well accomplifhed with the common farm- 
 houfe dogs. When thefe have got pretty near the lion, 
 the latter, from a greatnefs of foul, does not offer to fly 
 any farther, but fits himfelf dow^n. The hounds then fur- 
 round him, and, rufliing on him all at once, are thus, 
 with their united flrength, able to tear in pieces, almofl 
 in an inflant, the flrongefl of all wild beafts. It is faid, 
 that he has feldom time to give more than two or three 
 llight flrokes with his paws, (each of which ftrokes is 
 
 inftant
 
 CAPE OF OOOD HOPE. 57 
 
 iilftant death) to an equal number of his affailants. M. de ^ '775- 
 
 December, 
 
 BuFFON aflerts alio, that the lion may be hunted on horfe- v.-^vx^ 
 back, but that the horfes as well as the dogs mufl be train- 
 ed to it : this is probably a mere conjecture of that ingenious 
 author, as he does not mention his informers on this point. 
 In Africa, the colonics hunt the lion with common hunting 
 horfes ; indeed, I do not know how they could eaflly be 
 able to get horfes trained up only to the chafe of the lion. 
 
 It is faid, that horfes in battle, or in other dangerous 
 enterprizes, fufFer themfelves more willingly to be capari- 
 foned by their riders than at other times ; a circumftance 
 which I think I have hkewife remarked in thefe animals, 
 on expeditions, where the danger, indeed, was not fo great, 
 as in hunting the buffalo and rhinoceros, when they have 
 palTed rivers, and gone up and down fleep places and pre- 
 cipices with the greateft alacrity. Our horfes, the very 
 fame as had feveral times, in the manner above-mentioned, 
 lliewn their difquietude when the lion happened to be in 
 the vicinity of them, and which were not in the leaft train- 
 ed to the chafe, once exhibited a fpirit in the purfuit of 
 two large lions, equal to that which they had fliewn at 
 other times in chafing the timid gazels. Though, in fa(5t, 
 hunting horfes feem to partake much more of their mailer's 
 pleafure in the chafe : I remember in particular, at u^gter 
 Bruntjes Hoogte, I rode a horfe which, by a tremulous 
 found ilTuing from its cheft, cocking up its ears, and prancing 
 and capering, difcovered, in an unequivocal manner, its 
 ardour for the chafe, whenever it came in fight of the 
 larger kind of game. There have even been inftances of ^ 
 
 hunting horfes, who, when the hunter has jumped off 
 
 Vol. II. I their
 
 58 AVGYAGEtothe 
 
 ^ '77?- their backs in order to difcharp;e his piece, but has mifled 
 
 December. <-* ^ 
 
 v.-n"v-> his mark^ have, in their eagernefs for the chafe, not al- 
 lowed him time fufhcient to mount again, but followed 
 the game alone for hours together, clofe at its very heels, 
 in all its turnings and windings. 
 
 The chafe of the lion on horfeback is, in fa6l, carried 
 on in the fame manner as that of the elephant, which I 
 have already defcribed in Vol. I. p. 3 1 5 ; but as various parti- 
 culars, hitherto unknown, concerning the lion's difpolition^ 
 may be learned from it, a defcription of it here will, per- 
 haps, not be fuperfluous ; and, in cafe I fliould be too mi- 
 nute and circumftantial, I lliall hope for the indulgence of the 
 candid reader ; particularly of fuch of them as are fportfmen, 
 and are confcious with what high glee and fatisfa<5lion they 
 are wont to defcribe, with the utmoft minutenefs and pro- 
 lixity, every turning and winding of a poor timid hare. 
 
 It is only on the plains, that the hunters venture to go 
 out on horfeback after the lion. If it keeps in fome cop- 
 pice, or wood, on a rifing ground, they endeavour to teaze 
 it with dogs till it comes out ; they likewife prefer going 
 together two or more in number, in order to be able tp 
 aflift and refcue each other, in cafe the firft fhot fliould 
 not take place. 
 
 When the lion fees the hunters at a great diflance, it is 
 univerfally allowed, that he takes to his heels as faft as 
 ever he can, in order to get out of their light ; but if they 
 chance to difcover him at a fmall diftance from them, he is 
 then laid to walk off in a furly manner, but without putting 
 himfelf in the leaft hurry,, as though he was above fliew- 
 ing any fear, when he finds himfelf dilcovered or hunted. 
 
 He
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. ^^ 
 
 He is therefore reported like wife, when he finds himfelf ^ ^775- 
 
 -^ December, 
 
 purfued with vigour, to be foon provoked to refiflance, or v^^-r^ 
 at leafh he difdains any longer to fly. Confequently he 
 flackens his pace, and at length only fidles flowly off Hep 
 by flep, all the while eying his purfuers aHvaunt ; and fi- 
 nally makes a full flop, and turning round upon them, and 
 at the fame time giving himfelf a fliake, roars with a fliort 
 and fliarp tone, in order to fliew his indignation, being 
 ready to feize on them and tear them in pieces. This is 
 now precifely the time for the hunters to be upon the fpot, 
 or elfe to get as foon as poffible within a certain diflance of 
 him, yet fo as at the fame time to keep at a proper diflance 
 from each other ; and he that is nearefl, or is mofl advan- 
 tageoufly pofled, and has the beft mark of that part of the 
 lion's body which contains his heart and lungs, muft be 
 the firfl to jump off his horfe, and, fecuring the bridle by 
 putting it round his arm, difcharge his piece ; then in an 
 inflant recovering his feat, muft ride obliquely athwart his 
 companions; and, in fine, giving his horfe the reins, mufl. 
 truft entirely to the fpeed and fear of this latter, to convey him 
 out of the reach of the fury of the wild beaflj in cafe he has 
 only wounded him, or has abfolutely mifTed him. In either 
 of thefe cafes, a fair opportunity prefents itfelf for fome of the 
 other hunters to jump off their horfes diredly, as they may 
 then take their aim and difcharge their pieces with greater 
 < oolnefs and certainty. Should this {hot likewife mifs, (which, 
 liowever, feldom happens,) the third fportfman rides after 
 the lion, which at that inflant is in purfuit of the firfl or 
 the fecond, and, fpringing off his horfe, fires his piece, 
 as foon as he has got within a proper diflance, and finds a 
 
 I a fufTici-
 
 6o AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^775' fufnciently convenient part of the animal prefent itfelf, 
 
 December. ^ r t i ' ^ r ii- 
 
 V^r^ efpecially obliquely from Denind. It now the lion turns 
 upon him too, the other hunters turn again, in order to 
 come to his refcue with the charge, which they loaded 
 with on horfeback, while they were flying from the wild 
 beaft. 
 
 No inftance has ever been known, of any misfortune 
 happening to the hvinters in chafing the lion on horfeback. 
 The African colonifls, who are born in, or have had the 
 courage to remove into the more remote parts of Africa, 
 v/hich are expofed to the ravages of wild beafts, are moftly 
 good markfmen, and are far from wanting courage. The 
 lion, that has the boldnefs to feize on their cattle, which are 
 the moll valuable part of their property, fometimes at their 
 very doors, is as odious to them, as he is dangerous and 
 noxious. They confequently feek out thefe animals, and 
 hunt them with the greateft ardour and glee, with a view 
 to exterminate them. When the lion, therefore, comes 
 upon their grounds, it is much the fame as if they were go- 
 ing to fight />ro aris et focis ; and I have heard feveral yeo- 
 men at Agter Bruntjes Hoogte^ when I was out a hunting 
 with them, merely exprefs a wifli to meet with the lions, ia 
 cafe there were any in that neighbourhood, without men- 
 tioning a word about fhooting them ; a iign, that with re- 
 gard to that part of the bufinefs they were pretty fure of 
 their hands. 
 
 The lion is by no means hard to kill. Thofe who have 
 had occafion to fhoot feveral of thefe animals, have afliired 
 me, that while buffaloes and the larger fpecies of antilopes 
 will now and then make their efcape and run fairly off 
 
 with
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 6i 
 
 with a ball in their bowels, or in the cavitv of their abdo- r.^^'^K 
 
 ' ^ December. 
 
 men, of which I myfelf have feen inftances, the lion, on the ^^xynJ 
 contrary, on being fliot in this manner, will be thrown into 
 a vomiting, and be "difabled from running. But be that as 
 it may, it is natural to fuppofe, that a well- directed fhot 
 that enters the heart or lungs, Ihould fuffice to kill the lion, 
 as well as the elephant and every other creature : therefore, 
 as M. DE BuFFON acknowledges, that the lion's hide cannot 
 withfland either ball or dart, it is inconceiveable how it 
 fhould come into this author's head to affert, without hav- 
 ing the leaft authority for it, that this furious beafh is hard- 
 ly ever to be killed with a fingle fliot. 
 
 The hides of lions are looked upon as being inferior to, 
 and more rotten than thofe of cows, and are feldom made 
 ufe of at the Cape, excepting for the fame purpofe as horfes 
 hides. I met with a farmer, however, who ufed a lion's 
 hide for upper leathers to his fhoes, and fpoke highly of 
 them, as being pliable and lafling. 
 
 The next morning, being the 13th, we were lucky 
 enough to fhoot a buffalo fatter than the former. (For a fi- 
 gure of this animal, vide Plate II. of this volume.) This was 
 a great treat for my Hottentots, and, indeed, for myfelf, as 
 the flefh of the other was grown putrid in confequence of 
 the warmth of the weather, and the bad quality of the meat 
 itfelf. Befides, I had now a better opportunity of drawing 
 up a defcription of this beaft, which has been hitherto un- 
 known, and at the fame time of making a rough draught 
 of it. Immediately after the report of the gun, we faw the 
 buffalo fall upon its knees ; he afterwards, however, raifed 
 himfelf up, and ran feven or eight hundred paces into a 
 8 thicket,
 
 62 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- thicket, and diredtly upon this, with a mofl dreadful beilow- 
 
 Deecmber. i n i i • i • • 
 
 C^-O ing, gave us to underltand that it was all over with him. All 
 this together formed a fpedlacle, which moll fportfmen would 
 have been highly delighted to have been prefent at. This 
 creature, as well as mofl of the larger kind of game, was 
 iliot by the Hottentot whom my friend and hoil at Sea- cow- 
 nver had fent along with me, by way of being my guide 
 and markfman. Even fome of the befl huntfmen among 
 the farmers are obliged, for the moll part, to make ufe of 
 Hottentots by way of bufli-hunters ; as in their jfkin cloaks 
 they do not excite the attention of the wild bealls, fo much 
 as the Chriitians do in their drefs. They are like wife ready 
 at any time when there is occalion for it, to go bare -foot, 
 and crawl foftly upon their bellies, till they come within a 
 proper diilance of the animal. Moreover, when the buffalo 
 at length is irritated, the Hottentots can much ealier efcape 
 from the danger which threatens them, than a Chriflian. I 
 myfelf, on another occafion, faw two Hottentots run with 
 amazing fwiftnefs, when a buffalo was in purfuit of them. 
 
 It was not without the greatefl difcontent on the part 
 of my Hottentots, that I made a draught, and took the di- 
 menfions of this buffalo ; thus preventing them, in the 
 mean while, from falling aboard of the flefli. Neither did 
 they afterwards delay one moment to cut a few flices off 
 and broil them. They likewife laid two bones on the fire 
 to broil, for the fake of the marrow. After this they 
 began to take out the entrails, which, according to the 
 teilimony of my Hottentots, perfectly refembled thofe of 
 an ox : the buffalo's, however, are much larger, and take 
 , up more room, and indeed gave us» no little trouble in 
 
 clearing
 
 CAPE or GOOD HOPE. 63 
 
 clearing: them awav ; for the diameter of this creature's ^ ^775- 
 body was full three feet. v^^V^ 
 
 Upon the whole, the fize of the buffalo was as follows : 
 the length eight feet, the height five and a half, and the 
 forelegs two feet and a half long; the larger hoofs were 
 five inches over ; from the tip of the muzzle to the horns 
 was twenty-two inches. This animal in fliape, as may be 
 feen in the plate, very much refembled the common ox; 
 but the buffalo has much ftouter limbs, in proportion to its 
 height and length. Their fetlocks hang like wife nearer 
 to the ground. The bonis are fingular, both in their form 
 and pofition; the bafes of them are thirteen inches broad, 
 and are only an inch diflance from each other; by which 
 means, there is formed between them a narrow channel or 
 furrow, in a great meafure bare of hair. Meafuring them 
 from this furrow, the horns rife up in a fpherical form, 
 with an elevation of three inches at moft. In this 
 way they extend over a great part of the head, viz» 
 from the nape of the neck to the diflance of three 
 and a half inches from the eyes ; fo that the part from 
 which they grow out, does not occupy a fpace of lefs than 
 eighteen or twenty inches in circumference. From hence 
 bending down on each fide of the neck, and becoming 
 more cylindrical by degrees, they each of them form a curve, 
 the convex part of which is turned towards the ground, and 
 the point up in the air; which, however, at the fame time is 
 generally inclined backwards. The diflance between the 
 points of the horns is frequently above five feet; the colour 
 of them is black ; and the furface to within about a third 
 part of them meaf\ured from the bafe, is very rough and 
 
 craggy,
 
 64 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 _ ^775- crae-srv, with cavities fometimes an inch deep. Neither 
 
 December. ^^ . . ^ 
 
 ^.^-o thefe cavities, nor the elevations which are formed between 
 them, appear to be at all accidental, as there is a tolera- 
 ble fimilarity between thefe excrefences, though they are 
 very different in different buffaloes. The ears are a foot in 
 length, fomewhat pendant, and in a great meafure covered 
 and defended by the lower edges of the horns. The edges 
 of the ears are notched and flirivelled up in divers ways, 
 which probably proceeds from the wounds thefe creatures 
 frequently receive in their battles with each other, and 
 from the rents they get in the briars and almofl impene- 
 trable thickets through which they pafs together, with other 
 cafualties of that nature. Though feveral Hottentots have 
 been induced from thence to imagine, that the buffaloes 
 belonged to certain fupernatural beings, who marked thefe 
 animals in this manner for their own cattle. By w^ay of 
 naming thefe beings to me, they made ufe of the word 
 duyve/, which means devil. 
 
 The hairs of the buffalo are of a dark brown colour, 
 about an inch long, harfli, and, on fuch males as are ad- 
 vanced in years, very thin, efpecially on the middle of the 
 iides of the belly ; hence they appear at fome diftance as 
 if they were girt with a belt ; and what contributes not a 
 little to this appearance is, that the buffaloes in general are 
 very fond of rolling in the mire. The hairs on the knees 
 are in mofl buffaloes fomewhat longer than thofe on the rell 
 of the body, and lie, as it were, in whirls. The eyes are 
 fomewhat funk within their prominent orbits. This, to- 
 gether with the near fituation of them to the bafes of 
 the horns, which hang fomewhat over its pendant dang- 
 ling 
 
 I
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 65 
 
 lin? ears, and its iifual method of holdino; its head inclined ^ */7s:- 
 
 '-' , *-' December. 
 
 to one fide, gives the buffalo a fierce and treaclierous af- v^v^ 
 pe6t. The diipoiition hkewife of the animal feems to 
 correfpond with its countenance. He may in fome fort be 
 called treacherous, as he is wont to hide himfelf among the 
 trees, and lland there fkulking till fomebody happens to come 
 very near him, when he rulhes out at once into the road, 
 and fometimes attacks them. This animal like wife de- 
 lerves the appellation of fierce and cruel, as it has been 
 remarked, that, not content with throwing down and killing 
 the perfon whom he attacks, he ftands over him afterwards, 
 in order to trample upon him with his hoofs and heels, at 
 the fame time crufliing him with his knees, and with his 
 horns and teeth tearing to pieces and mangling the whole 
 body, and ftripping off the fl^in by licking it with his tongue. 
 This, however, he does not do all at once, but at intervals, 
 going away between whiles to fome diftance off. Notwith- 
 ftanding all this, the buffalo will bear to be hunted ; though 
 fometimes he will turn and iiunt his purfuer, whofe only 
 dependence in that cafe is upon the fwiftnefs of his fleed^ 
 The furefl way to efcape from him is to ride up fome hill, 
 as the great bulk of the buffalo's body, like that of the ele- 
 phant, is a weight fufficient to prevent him from being able 
 to vie with the flender and fine-limbed horfe in fwiftnefs; 
 though, on the other hand, the buffalo, in going down-hill^ 
 gets on much fafter than the horfe ; a fa6l to which I have 
 more than once been an eye-witnefs. 
 
 The buffalo is faid to be of a very hot nature, by rea- 
 fon that, according to the moil authentic information I 
 . ould procure, when thoroughly warmed in hunting, he 
 
 Vol. II. K throws
 
 66 AVOYAGEto the 
 
 ^775- throws himfelf into the firfl water he meets with, whe- 
 
 December. . ■, r n r i ^ ^ • • • i ■« . 
 
 w^.-^j ther It be frelh or lalt. One thing is certain, and that is, 
 that he frequently, and feemingly with great pleafure, wal- 
 lows in the mire ; and from tliis circumftance it is fup- 
 pofed he could not, with any profpecl of fuccefs, be tamed 
 for the yoke, as when he was weary and warm, he would 
 throw himfelf into the neareft water, or be guilty of fome 
 other tricks. 
 
 Mr. Hemming, the fub-governor, had, during my re- 
 fidence at the Cape, endeavoured to tame a buffalo ; but 
 it was faid, that this animal was too wild, and at the fame 
 time too flrong and ungovernable to be confined by any 
 yoke or harnefs whatever ; or to be kept in order and fub- 
 je6lion by the tame oxen, which were trained for that pur- 
 pofe, and along with which he was to be yoked. 
 
 On my return through Krake^amma I faw a buffalo- 
 calf, as tame as any of the ordinary calves with which it 
 was grazing. It had been taken foon after it was brought 
 into the world, having the navel-firing hanging to it ; but 
 notwithftanding its being fo young, it made great refift- 
 ance to the people who caught it. A fortnight afterwards 
 it had already acquired fo much ftrength, that the owner 
 of it, a flout lufly man, found it difficult to lead it along. 
 In fa6l, it was fomewhat taller, and much flouter than other 
 calves of the fame age. The colour of it was a very 
 light brown, the hairs long and rough, and on the back 
 lying in whirls ; in the nape of the neck thefe fame hairs 
 inclined forwards, while thofe on the forehead were turn- 
 ed backwards; on the lip, fome of them were long and 
 fliff; and indeed, they were of a conliderable length on the 
 
 whole
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE. 6r 
 
 wlioie of the lower jaw, and under the belly. The fore- j^^[l'(^^^^^ 
 part of this creature appeared to be low m proportion to v.^vs^ 
 the refl^of its body ; the head was large, and the ears long 
 and pendent ; the legs fliorter than thofe of an ordinary 
 calf; and its afpect fuiky and treacherous. The owner in- 
 tended to prefent it to the governor for his menagerie. 
 For my part, I do not in the lead doubt of the poflibility 
 of breaking bufialoes for the yoke, provided the calves 
 are taken very young, and are put to it at an early period, 
 and for a long time together. By a properly adapted 
 fparing diet, and frequently milking the cows, thefe ani- 
 mals might, after fever al generations, lofe as much of their 
 fiercenefs as might be thought neceffary, and yet retain fo 
 much of their native vigour as to be flronger than the 
 common oxen. It would be a curious experiment, to cou- 
 ple the male or female buffalo with a common bull or 
 cow. Moll of the wild buffalo-calves that I have {qqu. 
 were, like the tame one I have jufl defcribed, of a 
 light brown colour ; and the younger they were, the paler 
 was the colour. I have already obferv^ed, under the date 
 of the 9th of this month, with what flrength the buffalo 
 prefTed into the midft of the clofeil thickets ; in this the 
 bealt is alTifted by the broad part of its horns, which, at 
 the fame time that it ferves to pierce through the ^^rickly 
 bufhes, is of ufe in guarding and faving its eyes. 
 
 The flefli of the buffalo is coarfe and not very fat, but 
 full of juice, and of a high and not difagreeable fla- 
 vour. The hide is thick and tough, and is in great re- 
 queft with the farmers for thongs and harneffes. Of it 
 "we made the only halters that can be depended upon for 
 
 K 2 fecuring
 
 68 ' A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^775- fecuring our horfes and oxen; fo that thefe beafts cannot 
 \^yy^ get loofe by fnapping them afunder, which they are other- 
 wile apt to do, when the Hons and wolves make their ap- 
 pearance in the neighbourhood. Every fuch halter fliould 
 be a finger an-d a half in breadth, and about three yards 
 long, and are fold a good way up in the country for a 
 quarter of a rixdollar apiece. 
 
 The hide of the buffalo we had now fiiot, after it had 
 been drefTed in fome fort by my Hottentots, by being 
 flretched out and falted a little, and afterwards half dried, 
 ferved to make a pair of new four-plaited traces for my 
 waggon. We obferved, that the ball had hit the lower 
 part of the neck and entered the lungs, where, though it 
 did aot leera to have flruck againfl any bone, and though 
 it was alloyed with the ufual quantity of tin, it was yet 
 found to be pretty much flattened, hi other buffaloes that 
 we fhot Cnce, I have fometimes found the balls, though al- 
 loyed with tin, fhivered into feveral pieces againfl the bonesy 
 in the internal parts, or at leafl, very much flattened. It is 
 not, therefore, worth while to fet about lliooting the buffala 
 with balls made of lead only, for they will feldom be 
 able to penetrate into thofe parts where they are likely to 
 prove mortal. Befides, being poffefled of the degree of 
 hardnefs requifite, a ball fnould be of a tolerable fize, in 
 order to kill fo large an animal as the buffalo. The leaft 
 that ought to be ufed for this purpofe, Ihould weigh two 
 ounces and a quarter. 
 
 I have fpoken of the buffalo, as being an animal hi- 
 therto unknown. So, in fac>, I prefume to call it, as I am 
 the firfl that have given a defcription and drawing of it, 
 
 wiiich
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOP'E. 69 
 
 which I have done in the Swedilli Tranfadtions, by the ^^JJJ^^^, 
 name of the dos Coffer, My readers will, perhaps, excufe v^vs,> 
 me for making ufe, in a great meafure, of the fame words 
 in both places, and for being here more difFufe and cir- - 
 cumflantial. 
 
 In M. DE BuFFON, Tom. XL p» 416. Tab. 41. we find 
 the horns only engraved, as they were brought from the 
 Cape by the Abbe de la Gaille. 
 
 The Abbe de Manet, Tom. II. p. 129. gives us a few 
 lines concerning a fort of buffalo, which feems to anfwer 
 this which I call the bos CaiFer. Mr. Pennant, in tlie 
 laft edition of his Synopfis of ^adrupeds^ VoL IL p. 29. 
 fpeaks likewife of this fpecies of buffalo. 
 
 My Hottentots lliewed fo much diligence and zeal both 
 in cutting up and eating this beaft,. that the encourage- 
 ment and ftimulation, which is other wife frequently ne- 
 celTary to let their Huggifli and heavy fouls in motion', 
 would on this occalion have been quite fuperfluous. They 
 di'ove the waggon then up to the place where the beafl lay,, 
 and loaded it with the beft and fattefi: part of the flefh. The 
 raw hide, which was of confiderable weight and extent,, 
 was tied under the waggon till it fliould be wanted, and 
 the two remaining legs or marrow-bones were faftened to 
 each fide of the body of the w^aggon. Notv/ithHanding 
 this, our Bq/hies-men had each of them loaded themfelves 
 v/ith a quantity of flips of fielli made up into bundles. 
 Thus covered up to the eyes and ears in meat, we made a 
 fingular appearance, which might have given any traveller 
 that had happened to pafs that way, the idea of a walking 
 fleili-market. As we proceeded on our journey, a fwarni. 
 
 of
 
 70 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^775- of Other carnivorous animals in a confiderable number, 
 V^rO viz. eagles, falcons, and common hawks, were feen foon 
 afterwards to occupy our places about the buffalo's re- 
 mains ; though we faw none of them either in the trees 
 or flying about in the air, till we had got to the diftance 
 of a few gun-fliots from the fpot. 
 
 We had fcarcely got half an uur on our road, before we 
 faw a great number of qua^gas^ with a huge fat Cape-elk ; 
 and beiides this, on the open plains, two male buffaloes 
 came within feventy paces of us. 
 
 It was fingular enough, that thefe latter did not feem 
 to perceive either us or our waggon for a long while, till 
 we made an intolerable noife with laughing and talking; 
 when at length they looked up at us, but Itaid, notwith- 
 Handing, a good w^hile before they betook themfelves to 
 ilight. 
 
 My Hottentots, who faw I was fond of hunting of dif- 
 ferent forts, the chafe of flies and butterflies not except- 
 ed, thought it very fl:range that I fhould now neither flioot 
 thefe animals myfelf, nor fuffer them to do it. They, 
 however, owned at length, that I was perfedlly in the 
 right, in confequence of my reminding them, that they 
 were covered up to the eyes in buffalo's fat; and that the 
 flefli with which they had already loaded the waggon, both 
 in fide and out, would be quite putrid before they could 
 eat it all up ; that they ought not to put themfelves on a 
 level with fo voracious a beaft as the wolf, of which they 
 often expreffed their hatred and abhorrence, on account 
 of its killing and wounding every thing it met with ; and 
 finally, that thefe buffaloes, if they were fpared at prefent, 
 i and
 
 6 APE ofGOOD hope. yr 
 
 and not feared away, mi^ht prove extremely ufeful to ^775- 
 
 *^ ■*- December. 
 
 fbmebody elfe ; perhaps, indeed, to oiirlelves on our return v^v^ 
 home. This moderation acquired me afterwards a great 
 deal of refpedl from many of the colonifls, as with 
 great reafon, they were very much difcontented with the 
 capricious condu6l of feveral fportfmen, who, merely for 
 the pleafure of fliooting, are guilty of wafting the trca- 
 fures of nature in the moft unjuftifiable manner ; and by 
 unneceftarily deftroying the game, fpoil their own fport in 
 future, as well as that of others. For when they now and 
 then make a little hunting excurfion (as they term it) they 
 feldom or ever return from the purfuit of a herd of game, 
 before they have made a great havock among them, though 
 the carcafes are afterwards left to rot on the ground. It 
 is true, at every fliot they take they leap off their horfes, 
 to difcharge their pieces ; but mounting again immediate- 
 ly, load their guns, at the fame time that they are conti- 
 nuing the purfuit of the gazels. In the mean time, I could 
 not help pi6luring to my imagination, the pleafure which, 
 on the other hand, fuch a fhot as I had had that day, 
 would have given me in the South Sea, when I might have 
 treated myfelf and my famifhed mefs-mates with fome ex- 
 cellent high-flavoured roaft beef of buffalo's flefli. 
 
 We took the oxen out of the waggon, and baited a con- 
 fiderable time at the river KeuJI kunni aati^ which, in the 
 Hottentot language, bears pretty nearly the frgnification of 
 J^et not the ugly drink here, lliis river is by the colonifts 
 otherwife called Little Bo/bies-mans-river. 
 
 The flefli as well as the marrow of the buffalo, was in 
 itfelf very delicate; but both Mr. Immelman and I could 
 
 not
 
 72 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1775- not help being difgulled with it at times, as we faw the 
 ^^,»ynj' Hottentots eat fo immoderately and greedily of it. For 
 whole nights together the flefh-kettle was kept boiling on 
 the fire, and frequently they broiled fome more of the 
 flefli between whiles. As foon as any one of the Hot- 
 tentots was awake, he Mas immediately prepared to eat 
 both boiled and roaft. Sleeping or waking, as one may fay, 
 they had always either meat or a pipe in their mouths ; and 
 befides, as they found leifure and opportunity, viz. the two 
 or three lirfl days after we had fliot any game, feveral of 
 them were particularly careful and diligent in Ikimming 
 off the fat from the pot. Belides, however affiduous they 
 were in befmearing their bodies with it, yet I was always 
 obliged to >exert my authority as their mafter, in order to 
 make thera put a little of it on my flioes and bridles, which 
 would otherwife have been cracked in pieces, or parched 
 up by the drought of the weather. 
 
 In their difpofitions my Hottentots were, particularly in 
 the evenings, merry and talkativ-e, and that fometimes in 
 a high degree, I have every reafon to believe, that Mr. 
 Immelman and I were not unfrequently the fubjedls of 
 their gibes, jokes, and laughter. Perfuaded as we were of 
 this, it was juft as well for us that we did not underftand 
 the language ; efpecially, as now we could not be more 
 hurt than if we imagined they abufed us in thought 
 only ; and in that cafe, we were far from being fo 
 fqueamifh as a certain officer, who firjft punifhed a fol- 
 dier for a fault he had committed, and afterwards, mere- 
 ly on the fufpicion that he rauft infallibly have had the 
 
 impudence 
 
 7
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 73 
 
 impudence to take it amifs, ordered a certain number of *779- 
 
 ■*■ December. 
 
 lailies to be given him into the bargain. ^-•yv^ 
 
 In the defert in particular, a great deal of management 
 was requifite, in order to keep in with the Hottentots ; 
 fo that thefe people, who are very much inclined, on every 
 little whim that takes them, to run away, might not, in that 
 place, defert us. On the other hand, not to give room by 
 too much lenity, for any great degree of negie6l and im- 
 pudence, we were twice under the neceflity of trying what 
 efFe6l blows would have upon them, and we found that 
 they anfwered the purpofe extremely well. Prudence, 
 however, required, that the offender's crime, his remiifncfs 
 and negle6l of duty, for inftance, lliould be reprefented, 
 as being likewife a great offence againft their own comrades, 
 and punifhed accordingly ; v/ho by this means, as well as by 
 that of hemp, tobacco, and commendations properly diflri- 
 buted, were prevented from taking the delinquents part. 
 Having learnt by experience, that the Bofhies-men in our 
 fervice were extremely flothful and entirely independent on 
 me, as long as they had by them any tolerable quantity of 
 hemp or tobacco for fmoking, I grew very fparing in my 
 treats, giving out only enough for two or three pipes at a time, 
 and none at all to fuch as had neglected their duty. In de- 
 fault of tobacco or hemp, they ufed to fmoke the dry bark of 
 fome trees, mofs, leaves, horfe-dung, or that of the rhino- 
 ceros ; to which they added, when they could get it, the fteni 
 of fome old wooden pipe, ftrongly impregnated with the oil 
 of the tobacco that had been fmoked in it, cutting it into 
 fhreds, in order to meliorate, by the delicate flavour of the 
 tobacco, that of the ingredient above-mentioned. 
 
 Vol. II. L In
 
 74 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 _ »775- In thofe places where we happened to flay feveral days^ 
 
 December. ^ ^ ^ ' ■' ' 
 
 v^^ynJ fome of the Bouiies-men in our train laid themfelves up 
 night and day in perfect repofe, without giving them- 
 felves the leafl trouble about any thing. I therefore re- 
 fufed to give them the leall morfel of tobacco, till they 
 had procured me fome curious and uncommon infed: or 
 fnake. By this contrivance I obtained a few rare articles; 
 but for the moft part, their indolence was fuch, that they 
 would not give themfelves the leaft trouble to look after 
 any thing of the kind, till they were, as they termed it, 
 very hungry for tobacco* 
 
 € H A P«
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 75 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Journey from BoJIius-mans^river to Quammt^ 
 
 dacka. 
 
 N 
 
 EXT morning, bein? the 14th, at five o'clock, v/c ^Ji'^- 
 
 o^ ^ ^ ^ ' December, 
 
 proceeded on our journey. Bq^fJjies-mans-rivier^ which 
 we had juft quitted, had no current ; and though it is very 
 deep in feveral places, yet it was brackifli and had a fait 
 tafle, and v/as faid to be ahvays fo in fummer. A little 
 farther to the eaft, we had to go through a vale covered 
 with wood. 
 
 This vale is called Niez-bout-kloof^ from a kind of tree 
 which is faid to excite fneezing, if it be rubbed and then 
 fmelled. We were not fo fortunate as to find this tree, 
 but from the defcription that was given me of it, I fliould 
 imagine it belonged to the order of lomentaca. A dried 
 piece of this wood that w^as fliewn to me, had almofl en- 
 tirely loft the property above-mentioned, neither had it 
 any particular tafle. This tree is faid likewife to be found 
 at Bruntjes-hoogte^ though very rarely. 
 
 As it may be a ufeful piece of intelligence for future 
 travellers, I muft juft mention here, that fomewhat more 
 than half a mile to the left of the road, there is good water 
 
 L 2 to
 
 76 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1775- to be found in a vale called fKur-fkelja-fkei-fkafibina^ whi- 
 v^^^!^' ther by a road that went over two hills we fent our oxen 
 and horfes at noon to water, while we flopped to refrelh , 
 ourfelves. In the evening we arrived at Hajfagai-bofcb, 
 The other part of the road, together with the adjacent 
 country, was full of fteep hills ; fo that we were fre- 
 quently obliged to lock the wheels of the waggon, and 
 at the fame to difmount, and lead our horfes over the pre- 
 cipices. 
 
 As this day in my abfence, an honour was conferred 
 upon me at Upfal far exceeding my moft fanguine expec- 
 tations, viz. the degree of doctor in phyfic, an honour 
 heightened by the flattering proclamation by which it was 
 accompanied, I muft take this opportunity of making my 
 grateful acknowledgments for it, to Sir Charles Linne', 
 and the then promoter, profefTor J. Sidren, who at that time 
 compofed the whole faculty of medicine, and who by their 
 kind recommendations obtained permiflion of the moft 
 illuftrious chancellor for this purpofe. This inftance of a 
 Swede being, though afar off in a diflant defert, prefent 
 to the remembrance of his countrymen, will, probably, be 
 no fmall encouragement to fuch of our compatriots, as may 
 in future travel for the promotion of fcience ; for which 
 reafon, I thought proper to make mention of it here. 
 
 Early the next morning, being the 15 th day, we quitted 
 Hajfagai-bofcb^ which in itfelf is merely a little infignifi- 
 cant grove, and derives its name from a kind of tree to 
 be found here, as well as in many other parts of the coun- 
 try. In the vale below, the water is tolerably good, 
 though very fcarce and fcagnating. The diftridl round 
 
 about,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 77 
 
 about, was of the kind called Sour. At noon we arrived ^775- 
 
 . December, 
 
 at Nicirjo Jaars-dnft^ where the thermometer Hood at 80 ^^^'■xj 
 in the fhade. The water here was like wife good, and in 
 fome places very deep. The adjacent country had a de- 
 lightful appearance, being adorned with great numbers of 
 the mimofa nilotica ; a tree we have had occafion frequent- 
 ly to mention before, and upon which we at this time 
 caught a great many curious infeds. Aly fellow-traveller, 
 ^vhile he was running with his net after a butterfly, was 
 very near falling into a pit, in which a fliarp pole was lluck 
 upright; and in that cafe, in all probability, would have 
 fliared the fame fate as our infedls, by being himfelf fpit- 
 ted through the body. This pit-fall was, probably, made 
 by fome of the Caifres or Hottentots wandering about 
 thefe parts, for the purpofe of catching a very different 
 kind of game. 
 
 In the evening we came to Kurekoiku, or fKurekoi fKu. 
 In our way thither, we faw a great number of buffaloes. 
 Out of thefe I fet out to hunt on horfeback, a herd con- 
 lifting of feventy or eighty beafts, old and young toge- 
 ther. As I took with me only a light piece loaded with 
 a leaden ball, my intention was merely to get a bit of roaft 
 veal, which, for the fake of change, we longed for very 
 much. But I was difappointed in my views; for the old 
 ones made a circle round the calves, fo as quite to flielter 
 them from me when I jumped off my horfe, in order to- 
 difcharge my piece. Some of the oldeft of them in par- 
 ticular, putting themfelves in a pofture of defence, came 
 forwards to meet me; by which means, they gave the 
 others an opportunity to get farther off; at laft, however, 
 
 I fired
 
 y8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '775- I fired amone the herd, when immediately, on hearing 
 
 December. > o 
 
 V,^^r^ the report of the gun, they all made a full ftop, and flared 
 at me. I was not at that time perfe6tly acquainted with 
 the nature and danger of buffalo-hunting, otherwife I fhould 
 fcarcely have ventured to fet about it in the confident manner 
 1 then did ; but very luckily for me, the ball did not hurt 
 any of them ; otherwife, probably, the whole buffalo corps 
 would have turned round and hunted me down the craggy 
 iiill, vip which I had jufl before purfued them ciofe at 
 their heels ; in which cafe, I fliould not fo eafily have 
 got off. 
 
 The hunters do not fuppofe it poflible to kill the game 
 fitting on their horfes, partly on account of the weight of 
 their pieces, and partly from the motion occafioned by their 
 horfes ; but chiefly by reafon, that both the horfe and its 
 rider are fomewhat in a tremor, in confequence of the vio- 
 lent exercife they have jufl before undergone in purfuit of 
 the game ; while, on the other hand, by jumping off his 
 fleed, and fupporting his gun with his ram- rod, in the 
 manner before .mentioned, the fportfman acquires a great 
 degree of fteadinefs and certainty in his aim. 
 
 We flaid at Kurekoiku till the evening of the 1 6th, in 
 order to wafli our linen ourfelves and dry it in the fun. 
 We were, indeed, at that time very llenderly provided with 
 this article, as at our firfl fetting out we had been too lavifli 
 of this and our other apparel to our Hottentots. Our chief 
 •inducement to this a6l of liberality was, together with our 
 clothes, to get rid of a colony of difguftful animals, with 
 which our driver in particular, in confequence of his 
 fetting in the front feat, had Ifocked our waggon. We 
 
 after-
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. - 79 
 
 afterwards did not fufFer the Hottentots to wear any other ^ '775- 
 
 ■' _ JJecember. 
 
 clothes than their own pelHfTes, as in thefe the vermin K^y^rsj 
 kept themfelves more quiet, and were more eafily picked 
 up by the Hottentots, in which cafe, (the broihng part ex^ 
 cepted,) they underwent the fame fate as the prifoners of 
 the Cannibals. Whether they did this, however, for the 
 fake of gratifying their tafte or revenge, is a queflion I 
 willingly leave to be determined by the philofopher, who, 
 Ihut up in his chamber, explains every phaenomenon in 
 nature from certain accidental occurrences. At leaft, the 
 Hottentots themfelves gave us no infight into this matter; 
 as when we propounded this difficulty to them, they gave 
 us no other anfwer than, So maar, Baas! "This is our way^ 
 Majier! In the mean time one may perceive from this, that 
 men who are once funk into a certain Hate of filth, degra^ 
 dation and mifery, will not only be eafily familiarifed with 
 it, but likewife, without the intervention of any other caufe 
 in particular, fuffer themfelves to be mor^ and more debafed. 
 The two Hottentots, however, which I had in my fer- 
 vice, feemed, by their defire to earn and wear our Euro- 
 pean clothes, already inclined to rife from the ina6live and 
 debafed condition into which they were phmged. It even 
 fllattered their ambition, that in confequence of the European 
 drefs we had given them, they might, perhaps, be taken for 
 a kind of baftards, and confequently might be fuppofed to 
 have fome European blood in their veins. They had,, how- 
 ever, not the leafl notion of taking care of their clothes,. but 
 wore them even in the defert as long as they would hang on 
 their backs ; and, indeed, until, in. order to prevent the 
 
 vermia.
 
 8^ AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^775- vermin they were covered with from fpreadinir any far- 
 December. 11' 1 1 i o / 
 
 \^y^^ ther, we obliged them to throw them away entirely. 
 
 On the fame day on which they arrived at Bruntjes 
 Hoogte^ where they expe6ted to meet with a number of 
 fmart girls of their own nation, they painted their nofes, 
 their cheeks, and the middle of their foreheads, with foot. 
 A young Bofliies-man, the only young man amongft all 
 thofe whom I engaged in my fervice at Zondags-rivier^ fet off 
 his perfon in the fame manner. Excepting this, I could 
 not obferve that they even took any pains to iniinuate them- 
 felves into the good graces of the other fex ; but am rather 
 inclined to fufpe6l, that the firft advances in the way of 
 courtfliip, moftly came from the woman's fide. 
 
 This day, while we were bulled in running after infe<St?, 
 botanizing and wafliing, feveral of our Hottentots went a 
 hunting; and in the courfe of their fport, had come with- 
 in fifty or fixty paces of two lions, that were lying on the 
 ground, but they had the prudence not to fire at them. 
 The lions, likewife, as foon as they perceived the Hotten- 
 tots, had flolen away as foftly as they. The height of the 
 thermometer, at noon, was 84 degrees. 
 
 In the evening we took our departure, and in our way 
 met with and hunted a confiderable number of buffaloes ; 
 one of them, which was wounded in the breafl by a ball, 
 efcaped from us though clofely purfued ; but a female 
 which was fliot in the cheek, quite through a large vein, 
 fell at lalt, after having ran to fbme diilance. 
 
 This day my friend had an opportunity of feeing an 
 
 • amorous combat between two tiger-cats, and one of our 
 
 3 Hotten-
 
 CAPEofGOODHOPE, 8i 
 
 J775- 
 
 Hottentots caught four oflrich chicks alive, which we fed 
 
 for feveral days with fucculent plants, till they died in con- P^^^l^^' 
 
 fequence of the jolting of the waggon. 
 
 That fame evening we got to Hevy^ and there baited all 
 night. It was merely a rocky vale, in which there were fe- 
 veral pits of flagnating and brackifli water. From the flat 
 fummit of a mountain there dripped a little frefh water, of 
 w^hich we could hardly colledl a quantity fufficient to quench 
 our own thirfl. All the plants round about (except the 
 fucculent ones) were dried up like hay. 
 
 On the 17 th, at five in the morning, the thermometer 
 was at 60, and at two in the afternoon at 80 degrees. 
 Towards evening we departed, and got before night to 
 '^ammedacka Well, 
 
 This place is fituated at the diftance of two hours (uurs) 
 from that which we had juft quitted. A boggy pool of 
 water, which at that time was partly dried up, from twenty 
 to twenty-five feet acrofs, was the only w^atering-place to 
 be found in a tradt of country of confiderable extent ; upon 
 which account this was fo much the more reforted to by 
 wild beafts, and fmelt fo ftrong and rank of the buffaloes, 
 rhinocerofes, and other animals that wallowed in it, that, at 
 the diflance of feveral feet, our cattle, and particularly our 
 horfes, perfe6lly fliuddered at it. Their thirfl, neverthelefs, 
 compelled them at lafl to fip a little of what was collefled 
 in the prints made by the feet of the larger kind of game. 
 On a plot of ground a little higher than this bog, we difco- 
 vered traces of a water-fpring gently trickling down, and dug 
 round about it. From hence we got, it is true, fome water 
 not quite fo rank as the former, though it ftill retained a 
 
 Vol. II. M perfedly 
 
 i
 
 82 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 J. ^775-^ perfedly muddy tafte, and a blue caft, leaving on each 
 v»-^rw fide of the linen, through which we {trained it, a deep and 
 indelible flain of mud. On this occafion I could not help 
 being flruck with the remark, that habit and the charac- 
 teriflic turn of any nation, will generally get the better of 
 the plaineft di6lates of common fenfe. My friend Mr. Im- 
 MELMAN pertinacioufly followed the laudable Dutch cuftom 
 of thoroughly v/iping the bafons or vefTels with a clean 
 towel, every time that water was fetched in them ; though 
 at the fame time they were perfedtly clean, or at the 
 moft, perhaps, were Itained with the hundredth part of 
 a grain of fugar, or elfe of coffee or tea-grounds, and he 
 was juft going to drink dirt out of them, I may fay by 
 the ounce. 
 
 This evening a herd of about two thoufand fpring- 
 boks coming to drink out of the well, by the fide of which 
 we had pitched our tents, made a halt at the diflance 
 of two hundred paces in order to take a view of us ; when 
 I fired among them with a long gun, which was loaded 
 with three fmall balls. And though one of thefe balls, as 
 I afterwards found, hit a doe, and went quite through her, 
 fo as to pierce her liver, diaphragm, and one lobe of her 
 lungs, fhe yet ran fome hundreds of paces, before flie be- 
 gan to totter, jufi: after which fhe fell. She foon got up 
 agaip., however, and fkipped to the diftance of one hun- 
 dred and fifty paces farther, till flie was caught faft in a 
 thicket, where we overtook her and killed her. With a 
 larger ball, in all probability, the fpring-bok would not be 
 found fo difficult to kill, efpecially if it hit any of the 
 greater blood- vefTels. 
 
 This
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 83 
 
 This animal, which is called by the colonifts fpring-bok, December. 
 a term in the Dutch language fignifying the leaping or V^-rO 
 bounding goat, I have already made mention of in the Swe- 
 dilh Tranfadions for 1780. The defcription, however, of 
 fo remarkable a creature, muft not be omitted in this place. 
 
 This, if not the handfomefl, is at leaft one of the hand- 
 fomeft, gazels in the whole world ; being, like the gazel 
 kind in general, is diflinguifhed by its beautiful fiery 
 eyes; fo that in fome parts of the eaft, it is reckoned, 
 and not unjuftly, as the greatefl compliment that can be 
 made to a handfome woman, to tell her that Ihe has eyes 
 like a gazel. Fid, Profp, Alpin. Hijl, Mgypt, (I. 232.) 
 
 MosES (in Numbers^ Chap. XIV.) feems by his D//'^/^c?;^ to 
 have meant this animal, as the feventy interpreters tranflate 
 this word by pjygargus; the lignification of which (uropygium 
 alburn^ or white rump) beft agrees with this fpecies of ga- 
 zel. Pliny (VIII. 53.) makes mention likewife of a py- 
 gargus; fo does Juvenal (Sat. XI. ver. 138.) According 
 to my tafte, this was the handfomefl gazel I had feen in 
 Africa, as, in fail, it was the mofl common ; which latter I 
 conclude from the circumftance of my having feen it in thefe 
 places in much greater numbers, than all the other fpecies 
 put together. Hitherto, indeed, I had feen no more than one 
 of them in their wild flate, viz. on the plain xi^T^x Bopies- 
 mans-rivier ; but between the two Fifcb-riviers^ I have feen 
 them fpread over the plains in herds of different magni- 
 tudes, as far as the eye could reach ; and putting together 
 what I have obferved in the courfe of a day's journey on 
 horfeback, their numbers amounted to feveral thoufand. 
 Thofe that I fhot among to-day, were colleiled clofe toge- 
 
 M 1 ther
 
 8^ AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^775- ther into one herd, and, on hearing the report of my piece, 
 C^^!^' direcftly formed a line, at the fame time making a circular 
 movement, as if they would furround us, but immediately 
 afterwards flew off to a different fide to that which they came 
 from. In the BoMe-Fe/ds, as they are called, thefe animals 
 are found in great numbers, and fometimes at Roode-Zand, 
 A great many of this fpecies are kept in the governor's me- 
 nagerie. And yet, though as beautiful as it is common, there 
 has not been hitherto any tolerable drawing given of this 
 animal ; and much is flill wanting, to the perfedlion of its 
 hiftory and defcription. On this occafion I cannot help 
 expreffing my aflonifliment, that the mammalia, or quadru- 
 peds, the chief branch of the principal kingdom of nature, 
 a branch, indeed, which comprehends man himfelf, fliouM 
 be fo Httle known, and neverthelefs fo little fludied by him. 
 By the negle6l of this fludy have lions, tigers, and other wild 
 beafts, at leaft in Africa, without controul committed their 
 ravages in the animal kingdom. Nay, they have, as 
 we have already remarked, confined man himfelf within 
 certain limits, fo that he even cannot help trembling for 
 fear of them in his own habitation. 
 
 As to this gazel in particular, it deferves, as indeed do 
 all the works of the Creator, to be conlidered with all the 
 preciiion and minutenefs of which the fiibjedl is capable, 
 that in it we may the better learn to know and adore the 
 great Mafter of the Univerfe. 
 
 It appears, indeed, that felf-love, which ufually has fo 
 great a fway with us, fliould indvice us to take this flep; 
 for thefe gazels ought, for the general advantage of man- 
 kind, to be made tame, and tended in the places where 
 
 they
 
 C A P E o F G O O D H O P E. 85 
 
 they now go to graze expofed to the ravages of lions, of j^JJJJ^^^^ 
 which animals, in fadl, they feem to be the pecuUar pro- V^-^r»^ 
 perty ; and may be aptly termed, according to the expref- 
 fion of the Hottentots, their flocks of llieep. In the 
 mean while, it is incnmbent upon me to give previonily to 
 this, a tolerably accurate defcription of this animal, and 
 communicate to the public what information I have got 
 concerning the nature of it and its manners. 
 
 The height of it is two feet and a half ; from the tip of 
 the nofe to the horns are feven inches; from the horns to 
 the ears two ; from the ears to the tail three feet three inches ; 
 the tail itfelf being fomewhat lefs than a foot long; the 
 length of the ears is lix inches and a half; that of the horns, 
 meafuring them along their curvatures, is feven inches ; 
 the thicknefs of them at the bafe is two inches three quar- 
 ters ; and the diltance of them from each other at that 
 part one inch. After that they feparate, as is fliewn in 
 the figure (vide Vol. II. Plate V.) more and more, till at 
 about three-fourths of their length they fland at the dif- 
 tance of five inches from each other, when they tvim in- 
 wards ; fo that the tips of them at lafl come within three 
 inches and a half of each other. This appears to me to 
 be the mofl general way, in which their horns are bent. 
 In the fame animals of this kind in the governor's mena- 
 gerie I obferved, however, that they varied greatly, info- 
 much that Ibme of thefe creatures horns were bent 
 forwards, Hke the nagiier of Buffon, Tom. XII. Tab. 
 XXXIV. In othei's again, they wxre turned back. This it 
 is the more neceffary to mention, as otherwife, by fuch 
 variations in the horns, zoologills might be induced to 
 
 make
 
 ^'6 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 »775- make feveral fpecies out of one. In like manner, I bes: 
 
 December. r- -i • ■■ 
 
 L^^o^J leave to remark on this occafion, that in both lexes of this 
 fpecies of gazel, the horns are fimilar both in lize and 
 lliape; as M. Pallas, SpiciL Zoolog, I. p. lo. mifled by 
 KiEMPFER, fuppofes the female to have very Ihort horns, 
 or none at all. In fa6t, it is from a female that I made 
 , the foregoing defcription. This fame female I got Huffed, 
 and have it at prefent in the cabinet of the Royal Aca- 
 demy. In anfwer to the query put in the SpiciL Zoolog, 
 FaJcicuL XI. p. 15. I will juft mention, that the Comte 
 DE BuFFON knew nothing at all of this gazel; and that 
 the koba^s horns, as well as thofe of the tzeiran (vide FaJ- 
 cicuL I. p. 10.) are, belides the pofition of them, too large 
 ever to have belonged to this gazel. 
 
 To conclude, the horns of this beautiful animal are of 
 a deep black colour; and from the bottom of them to 
 fomewhat above the middle, are adorned with rings raifed 
 above the furface. From hence they are quite fmooth and 
 plain, terminating in a fliarp point; which, as it was faid 
 before, are turned inwards. The rings here fpoken of are 
 in number about fourteen, being raifed a line or two above 
 the furface, and inclining, as it were, forwards and down- 
 wards. On the fides, where the horns are fomewhat flat- 
 tened, thefe rings are lefs obfervable ; and between each 
 ring there is a number of fmall longitudinal y?;7>. There 
 are no port ceriferi under the eyes of this animal. 
 
 The predominant colour in this animal is brown of va- 
 rious fhades, or a light ruft-colour. This fame colour oc- 
 cupies a fpace of two inches in the forehead, juft in the 
 front of the horns, and goes between them over the nape 
 
 of
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 87 
 
 of the neck, and the whole neck itfelf, a narrow flip in j^^'JJJ^^^^ 
 the front of it only excepted ; in the fame manner it ex- v,^rO 
 tends over the back, the lides, the outiide of the haunches, 
 and the whole hind leg ; but makes only a narrow ftripe 
 in the front of the fore leg. To the breadth of an inch or 
 two, the pofterior moiety of the ridge of the back is white, . 
 w^hich colour is continued over and round the anus, the infide 
 of the haunches, and the whole belly, the hind part, infide and 
 outfide of the fore legs, the chefl, and the fore part of the 
 ribs, whence it proceeds in a narrow ftripe all along the neck, 
 extending over the remainder of the head, except a dark- 
 brown hft on each fide, of the breadth of an inch, which paiTes 
 from the corner of the mouth over the eyes to the horns. 
 A ftripe an inch and a half broad of the fame deep umber- 
 colour, extends from the flioulders to the haunches, form- 
 ing thus a boundary between the fnowy whitenefs of the 
 belly, and the ruity colour of the fides. The hairs likewife, 
 which encompafs the white part of the back and of the 
 anus, are of a fomewhat darker brown than the reft. 
 
 The tail, at leaft at the lower part, is not thicker than 
 a goofe-quill, and underneath it is quite bare, being cover- 
 ed on the outfide only with very fliort hairs ; excepting, 
 indeed, towards the tip, where there are a few dark-brown 
 hairs from one to two inches and a half long, which are 
 difpofed in the manner exhibited in the figure. 
 
 The ears are of an afli-colour, in moft places covered 
 with very fhort hairs, and in fome quite bare; feveral fine 
 grey hairs, moreover, occupy the bores of the ears at the 
 fore part and the whole of their edges. On the infide, 
 they are moftly bare. The eye-brows, and a few fliort 
 
 whifkers
 
 88 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^ ^11^- whifkers with which this creature is furniflied, are black, 
 
 December. -i i r 
 
 ^yry-o The hairs in general are very fine and denle, the length of 
 them being about half an inch. But the dark-brown ones, 
 which border on the white on the hind part of the back, 
 are from two to three, or three and a half inches long. Of 
 about the fame length are the white hairs, which grow 
 neareft the dark- brown ones juft mentioned ; but the mid- 
 dle part of the white flripe, confifls of fliort hairs like the 
 reft of the body. 
 
 The intention of the long brown hairs is for the moft part, 
 and in a great meafure, to cover the dazzling white part of 
 the back juft mentioned, the brightnefs and purity of which 
 feems by this means to be preferved ; fo that the animal, 
 by the expanfton of this colour to the breadth of fix, eight, 
 or nine inciies, may, on certain occalions, be able to make 
 a more fplendid aj)pearance. 
 
 This expanfion particularly takes place when the animal 
 takes a high leap, which it never fails to do when it is pur- 
 fued. Without any other view than that of contemplating 
 this peculiar property of the fpring-bok^ I have frequently 
 rode full fpeed after whole herds of them; when it was no 
 lefs pleafant than curious, to fee them jumping over each 
 others heads to the height of two yards, and, indeed, fome- 
 times much higher. Some of them would take three or four 
 high leaps together in ixnmediate fucceffion, but did not feem 
 to get on a whit fafter than the others ; which, in the mean 
 while, kept on an even running pace, interfperfed now and 
 then with a moderate leap or two. With their loftieft bounds 
 they made ftill lefs progrefs. hi this fttuation too they 
 feemed to be fufpended, as it were, for fome time in the 
 I air.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 89 
 
 air, in order, perhaps with a kind of oflentation, to look ^ »77v 
 
 December. 
 
 over their flioulders at their purfuers; and at the fame v^vv> 
 time, by the expanfion of the white part of their backs 
 to throw out a kind of menace, which, upon any other 
 adverfary than man, may, perhaps, have the intended 
 efFe^:. 
 
 The pofition of their bodies, wlien they made the 
 higheft leaps, was various. Sometimes we faw thefe ani- 
 mals with their backs bent convex, their heads downr^ards, 
 and all their four feet brought clofe together. Sometimes 
 their backs were hollow, fo that their belUes bulged out 
 beneath ; by which means the nape of their necks and their 
 rumps were brought pretty near to each other, while the 
 fore feet and hind feet were fo much the more feparated 
 for it. 
 
 When hunted, thefe animals fuffer themfelves foon to 
 be difperfed, fo that in a lliort time 1 had not more than 
 two or three of them to purfue. Otherwife, as foon as 
 the whole flock had got to fome diftance they would all 
 make a iland, and turn round to look at their purfuers. 
 It is pretty nearly in this pofture that the animal is repre- 
 fented in the drawing hereto annexed, at the fame time 
 fomewhat expanding the white hairs on its back and 
 rump. 
 
 To conclude, fpring-boks are extremely fwift of foot; fo 
 that it requires a good horfe, and one that is by no means 
 deficient in point of wind, in order to overtake them. In other 
 refpedts they are not very lliy, fometimes allowing a fportf- 
 man either on foot or on horfeback to come within reach of 
 them. Their fleili is very palatable, and has ajnore juicy 
 
 Vol. IL N - and
 
 90 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- and delicate tafte, thou2:h at the fame time lefs flavour 
 
 December. ^ /- i /^ 
 
 ^y-rO than that of other gazels. I was mformed, that in ftich 
 years as are attended with great drought, the fpring-boks 
 repair in incredible numbers to the fouthwards, making to- 
 wards the colonies at the Cape, and keeping straight for- 
 wards on their road till they are flopped by the fea, when 
 they turn back to go home by the fame way as they came, 
 and moft commonly with feveral lions at their heels. 
 
 Mr. Pennant calls this animal the white antilope, M. 
 Pallas gives it the name of the antilope pygargus. The 
 Syftema Nature mentions an animal by the name of capra 
 cervi-capra ; and it might be fuppofed, that the fpring-bok 
 was meant by it, as a drawing by Mr. Houston is referred 
 to, in fome meafure anfwering to it ; but other circum- 
 llances feem to clalh with this idea, particularly the figure 
 in Dodart; which, however, is referred to as being a good 
 one, not bearing the leaft refemblance to this creature. 
 The name of cervi-capra^ moreover, as denoting an inter- 
 mediate genus between the deer and the goat, is applicable 
 to the whole race of gazels or antilopes. 
 
 After we had fliot the fpring-buck^ we were obliged to 
 ilay at fo miferable a watering-place as this fluainmedacka 
 five nights longer, as the two-horned rhinoceros {rhinoce- 
 ros bicornis) was faid to have its principal refidence in thefe 
 parts. The longing delire I had to flioot this remarkable 
 animal was fo much the greater, and the lefs to be won- 
 dered at, as it had hitherto been only known to naturalifts 
 by the double horns, which at various times had been 
 brought into Europe, and preferved in different cabinets. 
 
 KOLBE,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 91 
 
 KoLBE, indeed, pretends to have feen the rhinoceros bicor" ^ ^^75^^^ 
 nis ; but as, beiides giving a fabulous account of it, he has in V^yv^ 
 the drawing he has given of it, reprefented the tail almoft as 
 bufhy as that of a fquirrel, it is certain, that this author, on 
 this as well as many other occafions, is merely the echo of cer- 
 tain ignorant inhabitants of the Cape, whofe relations can- 
 not be depended upon. I was fo much the more defirous 
 to anatomife the two-horned rhinoceros^ as the inveftigation 
 of the internal parts of the one-horned animal had been 
 entirely negle6ted, though this creature had been more 
 than once brought to Portugal^ France^ and England^ and 
 had been kept there alive for fome time ; and upon the 
 whole, has been tolerably well drawn and defcribed, parti- 
 cularly by Dr. Parsons, in the Philofopbical TranfaBions. 
 The reader may fee, like wife, on this fubjed:, an extra6l of 
 my journal, in the Swedifli Tranfadlions for 1778, p. 307. 
 with a figure of the rhinoceros. With what fuccefs my 
 wifhes were crowned, I lliall now proceed to relate. 
 
 On the J 8th day at feven in the morning, the thermo- 
 meter flood at 60 degrees; at three in the afternoon it 
 had rifen to 84. This day I had a good opportunity of 
 fhooting feveral rare and uncommon fmall birds, which in 
 this arid diflri6l, where water was fo fcarce, were obliged 
 to come hither in the hottefl part of the day, and venture 
 their lives for a few drops of water, which they were in 
 want of, as well for themfelves as for the young brood they 
 iiad left in their nefts. Though they could not but be 
 frightened away by my gun, and indeed fome of them were 
 wounded by the iliot, and at the fame time they could but 
 too well fee tjieir deftroy,er, yet they came again, hopping 
 
 N 2 by
 
 92 
 
 1775- 
 xemb 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775- by little and little down to the water-fide, in order to dip their 
 r. ^^^^^ .^^^^ ^^ with all hafle, for the fake of quenching their in- 
 tolerable thirft ; feeming all the while with a ceafelefs chirp- 
 ing to lament their dangerous fituation, and at the fame time 
 to upbraid me with my cruelty. This fpedtacle, affe6ling 
 as it was of itfelf, ought at this time to have made a ftill 
 greater impreflion upon me, as, on account of the heat of 
 the weather and the badnefs of the water I had to drink, 
 I felt a thirft almoft equal to theirs. " Yet, thought I to 
 myfelf, on the other hand, what a mere trifle are a few 
 birds compared with the populous fortified towns, which, 
 merely from a defire of dominion, my betters make no 
 confcience of affli6ling with hunger and thirft both, in the 
 higheft degree !" and thus went on inventing many fpeci- 
 ous arguments, which coft feveral more birds their lives ; 
 and all this, merely with a view of finding among theni 
 fome one that was rare and curious. So prone are men to 
 commit a6ls of cruelty and tyranny, and at the fame time 
 to find excufes for their conduit. 
 
 About the middle of the following night we were awaked 
 by the roaring of a lion, which brought to our recolle6lion, 
 that we might be as mere a trifle for thefe ravenous beafts, as 
 the birds I have juft mentioned are in the eyes of natviralifts. 
 Our oxen and horfes appeared now much more difquieted 
 than they were on a former occafion, when they heard feveral 
 lions roaring at once ; neither did our dogs now dare to bark, 
 but with their tails between their legs crept clofe to the 
 Hottentots ; who on this occafion were very active in keep- 
 ing up a good blaze, as they took it for granted, that a lion 
 at that juncture was reconnoitring us at no great diftance, 
 
 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD H O F^E. 93 
 
 and probably would not leave the place without paying us j^^m^^^^^ 
 a vifit. As they likewife believed that the eyes of the lion v,^-rv^ 
 could be defcried at a pretty good diftance in the dark, they 
 looked for them very attentively, in order that they might 
 be able to difcover from which fide they had to expedl 
 the wild beaft, and prepare themfelves accordingly to re- 
 ceive it. 
 
 Mr. Immelman's fituation and mine, which this gentle- 
 man, determined by motives of convenience rather than 
 of prudence, had chofen the evening before, was extreme- 
 ly critical. We had quitted the waggon, as being juft at 
 that time too hot and fultry a place to lleep in ; and made 
 our beds on the other fide of the very fame bufh, near 
 which the Hottentots had encamped themfelves round about 
 a large fire. We had alfo till this inftant llept there clofe 
 by the lide of each other, and of our fire-arms ; but not- 
 withftanding the danger there was to be apprehended from 
 fcorpions and ferpents, and the^ inconvenience of lying on 
 a plot of ground which was uneven and full of ftumps of 
 trees, we now found it more advifeable to creep clofe into the 
 bufli, and keep our guns ready in our laps ; for to go at this 
 time from hence to the waggon would have been extremely, 
 dangerous, and to pu(h in among the Hottentots near the 
 fire would have had a cowardly appearance, and, in fa6t, would 
 have been, without a metaphor, a dirty piece of bufinefs; 
 During all this the lion, according to all appearance, had 
 that very night drank out of the well, which was hardly a 
 {tone's throw from us; though it was either not hungry 
 enough, or elfe had not fufficient courage to attack us. 
 
 Oa
 
 94 A V O Y A G E T o T H ^ 
 
 ^^T^^: On the iQth the thermometer was at 60 decrees, and 
 
 December. ^ o ' 
 
 \y>ru the fame day at twelve o'clock it role to 84, and at three 
 in the afternoon to 95, being hung under the tilt of the 
 waggon. I found about this fpot a kind oi pur [lain ^^ fome- 
 what tougher than the common cultivated fort, and having 
 very fmall leaves one or two inches long, and thofe of a light 
 green colour, (^foliis linearibus^ marginib, ad racbid, revolutisy 
 caule berbaceo^fuperiusfubquadrangL) As I had brought with 
 me a pint and a half of vinegar, in cafe of our being feized 
 with an inflammation of the brain, proceeding from our 
 heads being flruck by the perpendicular rays of the fun, I 
 put a fmall quantity of it, together with a little fugar, to the 
 herb above-mentioned, in order to treat myfelf with a little 
 fallad, which, however, was tough enough, and ate almofl 
 like grafs. One of my Bofliies-men, who faw me prepare this 
 difh, gave me to underftand by figns, that I began at the 
 wrong end of the plant, and dug up the root of it, which, 
 though I ate it raw, was better tafted than the plant it- 
 felf; being nearly fli aped, like a carrot, and of a white 
 colour, a palm and a half in length, and an inch and a 
 half in diameter, {fujiformisy albid. Jefquipalm, diametro 
 /efquiuncialL 
 
 On another occafion I learned from this Hottentot, who, 
 contrary to the cuftom of his nation, was very communicative, 
 that the root of the da- fkai^ (p. 27. of this Volume) a flirub 
 of the mefe?nbryanthemum kind pretty common here, eaten 
 raw, was, in fa(ft, very well-tafted, yielding a fweetifh fub- 
 ftance, which might be fucked or otherwife feparated from 
 -the more woody and fibrous parts in which it was contain- 
 ed- I fet the greater value upon by this difcovery, as fome 
 
 events
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 95 
 
 events might eailly happen, which might make it ne- De/ember. 
 ceiTary for us to have recourfe to this plant, in order to V^rv^ 
 keep us from ftarving. The African colonics, who are 
 not near fo forward to inveiligate the virtues of the plants 
 of this country as by encroachments to increafe their pro- 
 perty in the country itfelf, were as yet ignorant of the ufe 
 of this root ; neither were the Hottentots, who followed me 
 from Zwellendam acquainted with it ; and the Bofliies-men 
 themfelves were at this time too idle to dig for the root, 
 when they could gorge themfelves, as it were, with flefli. 
 
 The Hottentot who was our beft fhot, had turned out 
 this morning before dawn to go a hunting, together with 
 two of the others : one ; of whom was conflantly his ar- 
 mour-bearer, in order that he himfelf, being difengaged 
 from the incumbrance of his arms, might have a fleadier 
 hand, and be more at liberty, when he found it requifite, 
 to creep on all fours and difcharge his piece, or elfe in cafes 
 of danger to make a precipitate retreat from the vengeance 
 of the enraged animal. At times, likewife, he often fent 
 the man w^ho carried his arms to reconnoitre the beafl, and 
 follow its traces. 
 
 The three Hottentots I mentioned as having gone out 
 in the morning, came back in the evening, and fet them- 
 felves down quite fpent by the well to cool themfelves. I 
 alked them feveral times, if they had fhot any thing? to 
 which after Ibme time they anfwered, " to be fure there was 
 a great fcarcity of game in thefe parts ;" and at length gave 
 me indiredlly to underftand, that they had fhot two rhino- 
 cerofes. I mention this trifling incident in fo circumlhintial ■ 
 a manner, as it affords an inflance of that fpecies of referve 
 4 peculiar
 
 ^6 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^775- peculiar to the Hottentot nation, which feveral coloniils 
 
 December. 
 
 v,^Y%^ had told me of, and I myfelf have likewife experienced. 
 When, for inftance, any thing remarkable happens, a Hot- 
 tentot endeavours to avoid, if he can, mentioning it for 
 fome days ; and wiien at length he does fpeak of it, it is 
 with a kind of circumlocution, or, as the colonifts call it, 
 with a draij, a fort of twift or winding. And indeed, 
 for the moft part, the Hottentot comes out with his intel- 
 ligence i^o late, that inllead of being of any ufe, it ferves 
 only to vex one. In the mean time, however, I was ex- 
 tremely well pleafed with the news of the rhinocerofes be- 
 ing fhot; and only wiflied that my Hottentots had been fo 
 kind as to have told me in time, that I might have gone 
 back with them and feen the animals alive. However, I 
 have had an opportunity of this kind feveral times lince. 
 
 On the 2oth betimes in the morning, Mr. Immelman" 
 and I rode to the fpot where the rhinocerofes lay, and were 
 attended by four of our Hottentots. 
 
 In our road we faw a great many quaggMS and hartheejls^ 
 and at the fame time chafed a zvood-fwine, but chiefly fpent 
 our time in reconnoitring a herd of elk-antilopes (antilope 
 oryx. Vol. II. Plate I.) fo that we did not arrive at the 
 fpot where the rhinocerofes lay till ten o'clock. 
 
 It was about the fame time the day before that thefe 
 beafts were killed, each f>f them with one Angle fliot, 
 which penetrated into the very middle of their lungs. 
 They lay at the diftance of about a mile from each other, 
 both of them being proflrate on their belly and knees, 
 with their hind legs brought forwards, and fupporting 
 ijaeir bodies on each fide. The firft thing I did was to 
 
 drav/
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 97 
 
 draw and take the dimeniions of the lefTer of thefe animals ^ ^775- 
 
 ■ December. 
 
 in this pofition, which I afterwards, from feveral others v.^-y'^ 
 that I had an opportunity of feeing aUve, altered to the 
 attitude of walking. 
 
 In order the more readily to form an idea of the fliape 
 of this animal, and the mutual proportion of its parts, the 
 reader may turn to the figure annexed in Plate III. Vol. II. 
 To this purpofe he mult reprefent to himfelf the lefler of 
 thefe beails^ eleven feet and a half long, feven feet high, 
 and twelve feet in the girt. And when befides this he 
 conliders, that, with refped: to iize, it ranks among four- 
 footed animals the third from the elephant; and, excepting 
 the horns, has been hitherto abfolutely unknown, with other 
 circumftances which will eafily occur to his refle6tion, he 
 will, perhaps, in fome meafure, be able to conceive, what 
 a feaft the fight and examination of this creature muft 
 have been to a naturalift. 
 
 The circumflance which firfl and chiefly excited my 
 attention was, that in the hide of this beaft there were 
 none of thole plaits and folds, which we find in the defcrip- 
 tions and figures publiilied of the rhinoceros bicornis^ and 
 which give it the appearance of being covered with a har- 
 nefs. It was only on the hide of the lefTer of thefe ani- 
 mals that we could obferve a fmall fold or plait, and that 
 merely at the nape of the neck ; but this feemed to proceed 
 from the pofition that we found it in, viz. with the head 
 leaning againft the ground, by which means it was carried 
 Ibmewhat backwards. 
 
 Confidering it in other refpeds, the hide was half an 
 inch thick on the back, but Ibmewhat thicker on the rules, 
 
 Vol. II. O though
 
 q3 a voyage to the 
 
 '775- though lefs compacSt there. The furface of it was fcahrous- 
 C^vnJ and knotty, and not much differing from that of the ele- 
 phant, but of a clofer texture ; and when it is dry, ex- 
 tremely hard. It was of an afli-colour, excepting about the 
 groin, where the fkin is not near fo thick, but is almoft 
 quite fmooth, and of the colour of a man's flelli. 
 
 The muzzle or nofe converges to a point, not only 
 above and beneath, but likewife very viiibly on the fides, 
 nearly as it does in the tortoife. The upper lip is fome- 
 what longer than the lower. The eyes are fmall, and funk 
 in the head. 
 
 Though the horns have been diffufely defcribed by others^, 
 yet, in order that the reader may form a juft and adequate 
 idea of them, it is requifite in this place to make various 
 additions to the defcriptions already given. They are of 
 the fame Ihape, and in fome meafure of the fame fize in: 
 both fexes; yet it appeared to me, that the lize of them 
 was not always proportioned to the body. Neither, indeed^.; 
 is there any conflant proportion obfervable between the 
 foremoft horn and the hindmoft, though the foremoft is 
 always the larger of the two. 
 
 The hindmoft, efpecially in the older animals, is moft~ 
 commonly obferved to be worn away in different parts, 
 which is never the cafe in the foremoft and larger one. 
 This, in fome meafure, confirms the affertion of the Hotten- 
 tots and the colonifts, that the rhinoceros makes ufe of the 
 Ihorter one only for the digging up of the various roots, 
 which are faid to compofe great part of its food; it being 
 endued with the power of turning the larger horn at that 
 time, on one fide out of the way. I was even informed, 
 
 that
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 99 
 
 that in the Hve rhinoceros the horns were fo mobile and loofe, ^ '775' 
 
 December. 
 
 that when the animal walks carelefsly along, one may fee its o^v^v 
 horns waggle about, and hear them clafli and clatter againfl 
 each other. What feems to add farther confirmation to this 
 account, concerning the truth of which, however, I am not 
 without my doubts in many refpe6ls, is an excavation or ca- 
 vity in the bafe of the horns; particularly that of the fore- 
 moll, which, like a glenoid cavity, by means of certain arti- 
 culations, is adapted to, and inciofes a round protuberance of 
 the fcull. It was with great difficulty that we cut the horns 
 away from it through the finews and cartilages, by means 
 of which they were attached to the cranium, and of w^hich 
 the remains are flili to be feen on the horns I have brought 
 home with me. Had I previoufly had the leafl hint of 
 the horns being moveable, I fliould certainly not have 
 omitted to inveftigate the degree of force with which the 
 mufcles and tendons, intended for the Itrengthening of the 
 joint, and keeping the horn fteady and eredt, were capable 
 of ailing. Of the elder of the rhinocerofes which we had 
 juft fliot, and whofe horns I have prefer ved in the cabinet 
 of the Pvoyal Academy, the hindmoft horn is very evidently 
 much worn away. I have likewife found the fame appear- 
 ance on another rhinoceros -horn, which was put up for 
 fale at the Cape. But in the younger animal, which I dif- 
 fe6led, and which I particularly allude to in the prefent 
 defcription, no marks of this kind were obfervable. The 
 fliape of the rhinoceros-horns are univerfally conical, with 
 the tips inclined fomewhat backwards, as is fhewn in the 
 annexed plate ; and may be feen ftill more diftindtly in a 
 
 O .2 figure
 
 100 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ,77c. figure given by Mr. Klein, which rejirelents a pair of 
 Decetnber. j-^jj^Qj^^gj-os-honis of the natural fize. 
 
 With refpedl to their fubftance and texture, thefe horns 
 feem to confifl of parallel horny fibres, the extreme points 
 of which on the lower half, efpecially on the pofterior part 
 of the foremoft horn, and on the greater part of the hind- 
 mofl, projecSl in many places ; fo that the furface in thofe 
 parts is full of inequalities, and in fome places feels as 
 rough as a brufli. The upper part of the horns is fmooth 
 and plain, like thofe of oxen. 
 
 The anterior horn belonging to the lefler of the rhino- 
 cerofes that we had lliot, was a foot in length, and five 
 inches over at the bafe. On the larger of thefe animals 
 this horn was half as long again, and feven inches in dia- 
 meter meafured at the fame part. This rhinoceros, how- 
 ever, did not exceed the other in bulk, in proportion to 
 the fize of its horns. Indeed, in the cabinet of the Royal 
 Academy of Sciences, there is preferved a pair of horns be- 
 longing to the rhinoceros bicornis^ the foremoft of which is 
 twenty-two inches in length, and the hindmoft fixteen. 
 The diflance between thefe horns is fcarcely two inches. 
 They differ likewife from the horns I faw in Africa, and 
 from thofe I brought with me, in being of a lighter colour 
 and flraight, and at the fame time flat on the fides ; fo that 
 the hindmoft horn particularly, has pretty fharp edges on 
 the upper part, both before and behind. Thefe horns 
 mofl probably came from the northern parts of Africa, as 
 tKey were purchafed at Naples by Baron Emanuel de 
 Geer during his travels, and w^ere by him fent to his fa- 
 ther.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. loi 
 
 then the late Marflial de Geer, as an additional ornament ^ "^11%- 
 
 . December. 
 
 to his noble mufeum, together with which they were pre- V^vO 
 fented by the Marflial's illuftrious widow to the Royal Aca- 
 demy of Sciences. 
 
 This animal may Be faid to be totally deflitute of hair, 
 though there are a few fcattered dark briflly hairs about an 
 inch long on the edges of the ears, with a very few be- 
 tween and round about the horns. This is likewife the 
 cafe at the tip of the tail. This is about an inch thick, 
 diminifliing by degrees from the root to the tip, which is 
 fomewhat enlarged in the fore part, and particularly in the 
 back part, and at the fame time rounded off, but is flattened at 
 the lides. It is directly on the edges- produced by this con- 
 formation, that there are to be feen fome ftrong ftifF hairs 
 an inch, or an inch and a half in length. Such of them as 
 fland towards this creature's hard and rough body, are vilibly 
 worn down and ftunted. 
 
 The feet, as may be feen in the figure, are not much- 
 wider than the legs. In the fore parts they are furniilied 
 each with three hoofs, which do not proje6t very much, 
 and of which the middlemoft is the largeft and molt circu- 
 lar. The foles of the feet, like thofe of the elephant, are 
 covered with a thicker and more callous il^in than the other 
 parts ; and are, if we except the edges, (which are compofed 
 of the hoofs) together with a fiffure in the heel, fomewhat 
 of a circular form. 
 
 I chofe the leiTer of the rhinocerofes for the purpofe of 
 making the difre6iion, as well as a defcription and drawing 
 of this animal. I and my people, making five in all, were 
 not able to Itir the carcafe, when, with a view to get at it 
 
 with
 
 102 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1775. ^vith greater convenience, I endeavoured to lay it on its 
 v^^^^^* back. Thisj however, proceeded in a great meafure from 
 the lazinefs of my Hottentots, and their backwardnefs to 
 ailift me. In the pofition, therefore, in which this un- 
 wieldy creature lay, we cut up its left fide, and took a large 
 flip from off its thick hide. This could not be effedled 
 without a great deal of trouble, and repeatedly whetting 
 our knives afrefli. 
 
 Though the animal had lain above twenty-four hours, 
 and an ecchymofis was formed about the wound, yet the 
 ilelli had hitherto been preferved from putrefadtion by 
 the thicknefs of the hide. A piece of this flefli we broiled 
 immediately, which tafled a good deal like pork, but in my 
 opinion was much coarfer. In the mean while, we cut 
 through the ribs with an axe, and what with hacking and 
 tearing together, we at laft contrived to empty the cavity of 
 the abdomen. I made drawings and defcriptions of thefe 
 parts, and took the dimenlions of them as fpeedily as pofli- 
 ble ; after which we took out the diaphragm, and a naked 
 Hottentot crept into the carcafe, in order to take out the 
 lungs and heart. 
 
 As the animal had received its death-wound by a fhot in 
 the large blood- vefTels of the lungs, thefe parts were al- 
 ready afFe6led with fome degree of putridity. The lungs, 
 liver and milt had not been long expofed to the open air, 
 before they began to fwell and effervefce. The violent 
 heat of the fun at noon, the great drought, and the flench 
 of the carcafe, rendered this operation in a fliort time ex- 
 tremely dangerous as well as difgufling. In the mean 
 while, I made the following obfervations. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 103 
 
 The vifcera of the rhinoceros bicornis, in my opinion, j^^^JJ^^^^ 
 moft refemble thofe of a horfe. So that this animal, not- U^^^O 
 withftanding its being furnifhed with horns, by no means 
 belongs to the ruminating tribe, but rather to the clafs of 
 thofe whofe fat is of a foft nature like lard, and not hard 
 like tallow. 
 
 The ftomach does not bear the leaft refemblance to that 
 of a horfe, but rather to that of a man or a hog. It was 
 four feet in length, (as I have lately found in my notes, 
 fmce I gave the defcription of this animal in the Swedifli 
 Tranfadions) and two feet in diameter ; and to this vifcus 
 was annexed an inteftinaltube of twenty-eight feet long, 
 and fix inches in diameter. This inteftinal canal was ter- 
 minated three feet and a half from the bottom by a large 
 coecum, if I may fo call a vifcus, which at its upper end 
 was the fame w^idth as the flomach, viz. two feet, and above 
 twice the length ; that is eight feet and a half, lying on the 
 fpine of the back, and attached to it at both ends, after 
 which it is contra6led into a redlum fix inches in widths 
 and a foot and a half in length. 
 
 The kidnies were a- foot and a half in diameter, and 
 the milt fcarcely a foot broad, but full four feet long. The 
 heart was a foot and a half in length, and the breadth not 
 much lefs. The right lobe of the lungs had an inciiion in it, 
 but was in other refpecls vindivided and entire, being two 
 feet in length. The left was fubdivided into two lobes, 
 the fmaller of which was next the bafe of the heart. The 
 liver, when meafured from right to left, was found to be 
 three feet and a half in breadth ; but in depth, or meafuring 
 from above dow^nwards, as it hangs in the animal when 
 
 this
 
 104 
 
 A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 1775- this latter is in a {landing pofition, two feet and a half. It 
 \^y^u confifted of three larger perfedly diftin6l globes, almoft 
 equal in fize, and of a fmall lobe befides, which proje(Sted 
 to about a foot from the concave fide of the liver, at the 
 middle of its upper edge. No gall-bladder, or any traces 
 of it, was to be obferved. In this the rhinoceros refem- 
 bles the horfe.— Juft before I finiflied the'difTedion of this 
 animal, I ^opened its flomach, which was very much dif- 
 tended, in order to examine what it ufually fed upon. The 
 contents of the flomach were entirely without fmell, and 
 perfedly frefli and fweet, confilling of roots and fmall 
 branches of trees maflicated, fome of which were found as 
 big as the end of a man's finger. This creature, as it ap- 
 peared, had likewife eaten a great quantity of fucculent 
 plants, among which I thought I recognized two or three 
 that were harfli and prickly. The whole of this mafs dif- 
 fufed around a very flrong and not difagreeable aromatic 
 odour, which in a great meafure took off the flench which 
 arofe from the putrid vifcera. Might it not be fome pe- 
 culiar herb, or, perhaps, the root only of an herb, with 
 which I was entirely unacquainted, which produced the 
 greateft part of the aromatic flavour ? In the excrements 
 of this animal, which were four inches in diameter, and 
 in other refpedls refemble thofe of a horfe, though they are 
 of a much drier nature, there is ufually f&'^n a quantity of 
 bark and fibres of trees, a circumflance that the hunters pay 
 attention to; and by that means are able to diflinguifli it 
 from the dung of the hip^x^potamus, an animal that feeds 
 only on grafs. I thrufl my hand into this creature's mouth, 
 which was half open, and found the tongue perfedly foft, 
 
 which
 
 € A P E OF G O O D H O P K. 105 
 
 %vhich is in direct contradi6lioii to the common notion, viz. .. '^^-v 
 
 December. 
 
 'Huod lambendo trucidat, (that he kills by licking with his \^-/^,-s^ 
 tongue.) I was likewife not a little ailonillied to find no 
 Jfore-teeth in any of the three carcafTes of the rhinoceros, 
 although one of thele beafts feemed to be old ; and, in 
 fact, this animal has little room for fore-teeth, as the 
 mouth goes off fo lliarp at the fore part, that in that place 
 it is only an inch and a half broad. Befides, it has no oc- 
 caiion for any teeth there, as the lips, like the ikin, ;ire 
 of that extreme hardnefs, that it is able to clip off the tops 
 of plants and flirubs with them ; and that with fo much 
 the greater eafe, as the under jaw goes within the upper ; 
 fo that this fpecies of rhinoceros is probably capable of 
 laying hold of its food with its lips, and conveying it 
 into its mouth, with the fame eafe and dexterity as Dr. 
 Parsons obferved in the common rhinoceros on a limilar 
 occafion. 
 
 At that time I could not poflibly feparate the flefli from 
 the other bones, for the purpofe of examining them.. I 
 was in hopes, however, that, by the time I returned, the 
 eagles and wolves would fave me that trouble. And this, 
 indeed, was fo far the cafe, that I had it in my power to 
 caiTy home with me the cranium of the leaft rhinoceros, 
 which I diffe,6led, very nearly in a compleat flate. It is 
 from this fkull that I had the annexed drawing made ; and 
 this part of the animal is of too much importance, for the 
 defcription of it to be omitted here* 
 
 Both jaws being clapped together in their proper joint, 
 .give nineteen inches for the height of it in the back part ; 
 and, meafured at the fore part from the tip of the nofe. 
 
 Vol. IL P fifteen^,
 
 io6 A VOYAGE tothe 
 
 ^ ^775- fifteen ; the leneth, meafured from the tip of the nofe to 
 
 December. *--* *■ 
 
 K^/'YKj the hindmofl part of the cranium, is in a diredt line 
 twenty-three inches, or fomething tefs than two feet. 
 
 With a view to avoid being prohx in my defcriptioh, 4 
 refer my readers to the figure annexed in Plate III. of this 
 volume, whence they will be able readily to conceive the 
 proportion, Scc. of the other parts. It is on the fore part 
 of the OS frontis that the lelTer horn is fixed ; it will, there- 
 fore, probably, be ealily perceived from the annexed draw- 
 ing, that the fagittal future is obliterated, and that the os 
 occipitis is terminated by a flat furface, along which it goes 
 Urait down in a perpendicular line to the condyloid pro- 
 celles, one of which is feen in the figure. 
 
 The cavity in which the brain is contained, does not ex- 
 tend much farther forward than the q[fa bregmatis. The 
 other bones by which it is encompafTed are tolerably thick, 
 fo that this huge animal has but a fmall brain in propor- 
 tion to its fize ; the cavity for containing this organ be- 
 ing barely fix inches long, and four high, and being of an 
 oval fliape. In order to know the capacity of it with tl'ie 
 greater certainty, we filled it with peas, w^hich we after- 
 wards meafured, and found to amount barely to a quart. 
 With a view to difcover the proportion between the brain 
 of the rhinoceros and that of a man> I likewife filled a 
 middle fized humr.n fcuU with peas, and found that nearly 
 three pints were requifite for this purpofe. On the other 
 han(], the cavity of the nofe in the rhinoceros is of a con- 
 f'iderable fize, which probably does not a little contribute 
 to the quicknefs of this animal's fcent. At leafb,- phyfiolo- 
 ^ifts ufc to- explain the fuperiority of hounds in this parti- 
 
 cularj.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 107 
 
 cular, from the circiimftance of the tunica fchneideriana^ or j)^,!.^/^,^,*^^^ 
 the nervous membrane appropriated to this fenfe, (when v«^v^ 
 it is expanded and extricated from all the folds which it 
 makes in the cavity of the nofe, with the greateft art con- 
 trived for this purpofe,) being fo extenfive as to cover the 
 whole body of the animal ; while on the other hand, this 
 membrane, in the human fpecies, is capable of covering 
 onlv the head. 
 
 Six denies molares only, or grinders, were obferved on 
 either fide of each jaw, belonging to the two oldeil of the 
 rhinocerofes fliot by us, and five only in the lead or 
 youngell:, as the annexed drawing of its cranium fliew^s ; 
 yet quite back in the mouth we difcerned the marks of two 
 more on each fide, the foremofi: of \vhich had begun to 
 make its appearance, but the hindmoft was almoft entirely 
 included in its focket. Hence it follows, that an aged and 
 fuU-grov/n rhinoceros has fourteen teeth in each jaw, in 
 ali tw^enty-eight. 
 
 In the anterior part of the os palatiy this animal appears 
 to have a tooth-like procefs, w^hich in the fcull that I 
 brought home with me is loft. Confidering the diftance 
 of it from the lower jaw, it fhould feem that it can hardly 
 ferve any purpofes of a tooth. I have to thank M. Pallas 
 for this piece of intelligence ; who, w^hen I had tranfm it- 
 ted to him this engraving, was fo good as to fend me the 
 beautiful figures of the cranium of a rhinoceros, tranfmitted 
 to him by M. Camper for the A£ia Fetropolitana, 
 
 The dotted lines drawn about the cranium, Ihow pretty 
 nearly the fituation of the horns and lips. 
 
 P 2 As
 
 io8 A VOYAGE to th» 
 
 »7?s- As I have mentioned above that the rhinoceros may be 
 
 v!^^^'* killed by a fingle fhot, it follows that the hide of this ani- 
 mal is not fo impenetrable as has been fuppofed. Bon- 
 Tius has long ago remarked, that this beafl is ufually kill- 
 ed with powder and ball. M. de Buffon probably did 
 not pay attention to this paffage, when he alTerted, on the 
 authority of Gervaise, that its hide cannot be penetrated 
 by any ball, excepting only about the ears. To thefe,, 
 however, M. de Buffon feems, of his own free will, to 
 have added the eyes and the belly. It is true, indeed, 
 that leaden balls will fooner be flattened againft the fkin 
 than pierce it ; but that balls or cylinders made of iron 
 (^des lingots de fef) fliould not be able to make the leaft im- 
 preflion on it, feems to be another addition of M. de Buf- 
 fo n's, equally abfurd with the former. It frequently be- 
 comes necelTary for me to corre6t in this manner, the vo- 
 luminous works of this illuftrious author ; which, indeed, 
 merit this corre6lion fo much the more, as the errors in 
 them, being in other refpe6ls not unfrequently dreifed up 
 in an elegant ftyle, have, in fail, impofed on many with 
 eharms which ought to be the attendants on pure genuine 
 truth only, and unadulterated nature. It is therefore pro- 
 bable, that the fportive genius of M. de Buffon, muft at 
 times have operated in impofing like wife on its owner ; 
 but I am willing to hope, that this gentleman being by 
 profejfton the interpreter of nature and truth, will on this 
 account fee with the greater pleafure, any flridlures and re- 
 marks which are necelTary to preferve the fcience of nature 
 from falsehood and error. 
 
 For
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 109 
 
 For this reafon I fliall proceed, without any farther cere- j^^^J^^^^^^ 
 mony, to inform the reader, that the hide of the rhinoceros, ^^yy^^ 
 as well as that of the elei^hant, is capable of being pene- 
 trated by javelins and darts. I ordered one of my Hotten- 
 tots to make a trial of this with his halTagai, on one of thfC 
 dead rhinocerofes. Though his weapon was far from be- 
 ing in good order, and had no other fharpnefs than that it 
 had received from the forge, yet, by means of a^ certain 
 manoeuvre, it received fuch an impulfive force, as at the 
 diftance of five or iix paces, to pierce through tho thick 
 hide of the animal half a foot deep into, his body. 
 
 The Hottentot or CafFre hunters are accuflomed to fteal: 
 both tipon the elephant and the rhinoceros w^hile they are- 
 afleep, and give them feveral wounds at once. After this they 
 follow the traces of the animal for one or more days, till it 
 drops down with weakness or dies of its wounds. Generally,., 
 however, according to their own account, they poifon one or 
 two of their darts immediately, before they attack an animal 
 of this fize ; in which cafe, they have no occafion to wait fo 
 many days, as they otherwife would, before their prey falls 
 into their hands. A farmer told me, he had feen an elephant 
 in this manner wounded and dead within twenty-four hours .- 
 As to what regards the one-horned rhinoceros, M. de Buf- 
 FON, in Tom. XI. changes his opinion three times in the 
 fpace of a few pages. In page 177, without quoting his, au- 
 thority for it, M. DE BuFFON confiders the hide as being fo- 
 tough, as not to be penetrable either by the fire-arms or fide- 
 arms of the hunter, (m dufer ni du feu du cbajjeur,) In page 
 i 8 1 again in the notes he quotes, approves and much com- 
 mends the account given by M. Mours relative to this point,.. 
 
 Vvhich
 
 lid A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- which yet is in contradi6lion with the former. This, how- 
 
 DcceuiLer. • t r i • 
 
 \^y->r\j ever, he leems again to have lorgot, when, in page 195, 
 (without producing any authority for it) he affures us, that 
 javeUns [les javelots ^ les lances) are not able to pierce this 
 animaPs fide. 
 
 M. DE BuFFON, not content with aflerting that the hide 
 of the rhinoceros is impenetrable, in page 176, will not 
 even allow it the leaft portion whatever of fenfibiUty, {prive 
 de toute fenfibiUte) and this merely without quoting any au- 
 thority, or having any other foundation for the affertion, 
 than what his own imagination has furniflied him with. 
 And yet, had M. de Buffon but paid a moderate degree of 
 attention to the clear and diflin6l account drawn up by Dr. 
 Pahsons in the Phil, 'Tranf, which he himfelf has quoted, 
 it would feem that he mufl; have been of a different opinion. 
 In that paper it is mentioned, that the rhinoceros emitted his 
 penis, when he was tickled under the belly with a wifp of 
 flraw. M. DE Buffon too remarks himfelf, that the rhino- 
 ceros is fond of wallowing in the mire like the hog : but I 
 will leave it to others to judge, how this accords with the 
 abfolute infenfibility he attributes to the hide. And, indeed, 
 when even the thick hide of the elephant is affedted by the 
 flinging of flies, how can we fuppofe that of the rhinoceros 
 to be abfolutely infenfible ? Again, the fkin at the bottom of 
 a man's foot, though thicker than it is in other parts of the 
 body, is neverthelefs by no means void of fenfibility. More- 
 over, the fkin of the rhinoceros, however tough and clofe in 
 its texture, has, at leafl about the groin, vefTels, blood, and 
 juices, adapted for the nourifhment of infecfts, which, indeed, 
 adually do nourifli them ; this beaft being infefted with a 
 
 kind
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. iir 
 
 kind oi acari'i which I have difcovered on its pubis and sfroin, ^ ^775- 
 
 ■*• o ' December* 
 
 and have drawn up an account of them, inferted in the Vllth \.yy^sJ 
 Tome of Memoir es fur les InfeSfes. Neither does the thick- 
 nefs of this animal's hide prevent it from perfpiring. 
 
 This creature, which at all other tim.es appears to be of 
 a grey colour, foon becomes black when it is hard hunt- 
 ed. This proceeds from the dult and dried mud flicking 
 to the animal's fkin, and moillened by fweat. Befides that 
 I have been aflured of this fa6l by others, I think I once 
 miyfelf faw a marlifeit inftance of it, in the cafe of a rhi- 
 noceros,, which ^yas•purfued by fome other fportfmen, and 
 very unexpecftedly pafTed within the diflance of forty or 
 fifty paces of my waggon, fortunately for me, without 
 perceiving it, or doing it . any damage. This beafl w^as 
 much darker coloured than any I ever faw, the number of 
 
 • v/hich, however, in all, did not exceed -eight. 
 
 From the figure of the rhinoceros referred to above, 
 and from the defcription I have already given, it fol- 
 lows, that M. DE BuFFox, in his notes to page i86, ac- 
 Gufes KoLBE, without any foundation, of having defcribed 
 
 -the leiTer horn as being placed in a ftrait line behind the 
 other, and upon the animal's forehead. It is impofjlble^ 
 fays he, that the two hor^js fiould be placed fo far from each 
 other \ for in the horns ivhich are preferred in Sip,. Hans 
 SlOane's mufeum^ there is only the diflance of three inches 
 between the larger hoj-yi and the f mailer. In faifr,.this emi- 
 nent naturalill: feems rather too hafty in the foregoing re- 
 mark, and forgets that every anim^al's nofe is ])laced near 
 its forehead ; fo that while one horn is fixed on the rhi- 
 noceros's nofe,. the other may be very well fixed, and ac- 
 6- tuallv.
 
 -11^ A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '775- tiially is fo, on the forehead. A figure fd plain and fimple 
 
 December. ••i-i tt- -t n nr- 
 
 i^^v'O as Kolbe's (vide the French edition) might have fufnced to 
 pr^V'CDt miftakes on this fubjedl. 
 
 In fine, it is necefiary to inform my readers, that what M. 
 :deBuffon advances concerning the copulation of the one- 
 horned rhinoceros, viz. that it is performed croupe a croupe^ 
 is not in the leaft applicable to the rhinoceros bicornis; but 
 in all probability, this opinion is not true with regard to 
 -either fpecies, as in the two-horned rhinoceros which I ex- 
 amined, the penis was placed as forward under the belly as 
 it is in a horfe; though, confidered with relation to the 
 different bulk of the two animals, it is much fliorter. In 
 the animal which I diffedled it was no more than feven or 
 eight inches in length, as may be feen in the fpecimen I 
 brought home with me. In a rhinoceros, which had the 
 appearance of being old, it was not much larger. M. d^ 
 BuFFON, after Dr. Parsons, defcribes the penis in the one- 
 horned fpecies as being ftill fhorter. Befides, he does not 
 fay a word concerning the fituation of this member, but 
 founds his conjet^ure on the fubjedl of this animal's copu- 
 lation, merely on the circumftance of its having been ob- 
 ferved to bend its penis backwards when it ftaled, in which 
 direcflion confequently the urine was emitted. But this, 
 perhaps, was owing to an accidental and vicious conforma- 
 tion; or it might be done out of cleanlinefs, efpecially as 
 we know that the rhinoceros bicornis^ at leaft has a very 
 acute fmell, and feems to love cleanlinefs, from the cir- 
 cumftance of its chufing certain places near the bufhes to 
 ftale upon. It is poflible, indeed, that the animal may have 
 a kind of mufculus ere&or^ for the purpofe of occafionally 
 
 altering 
 
 t, 
 
 :ii^
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 113 
 
 altering the clire6lion of this member. But I am afraid of r^^77S' 
 
 O jL/ccember. 
 
 tiring my reader's patience, by dwelling fo long on the V-^^v'v-^ 
 fubjed: of this quadruped ; I fiiall therefore at prefent only 
 make mention of it, juft as it may happen to occur in the 
 courfe of my journal. Mr. Immelman likewife was at length 
 tired of Handing by and feeing me dilTe^l this beail, and 
 therefore fet out before us on his road home, with a view 
 to repofe between whiles, and cool himfelf under fome 
 fliady tree. In order to go, as it appeared to him, a nearer 
 way, he rode over a hill overgrown with buflies. From 
 this fpot a rhinoceros ruflied out upon him, and he would 
 certainly have been trampled to death by this huge crea- 
 ture, or elfe have been taken up by it on its horns, and, 
 together with his horfe, thrown up into the air, had not 
 this latter in his fright made a fudden flart, and by feveral 
 iide leaps carried his rider through the bufhes, out of the 
 fight and fcent of the animal. 
 
 Here it muft be obferved, that the rhinoceros's eyes are 
 funk into its head, and are but fmall when compared to 
 the bulk of its body ; on which account, it is reported to fee 
 but indiilindtly, and that only ftrait forwards. But to make 
 amends for this deficiency in fight, its organs of fmelling 
 and hearing are fo much the more acute ; at the leaft noife, 
 therefore, more than ufual, this creature, taking the alarm 
 and pricking up its ears, fiands clapping with them and 
 liftening. Above all things one mufh take care, even when 
 one is at a great diflance, not to get to the windward of 
 it ; for in that cafe, it feldom fails dire(rtly to follow 
 the fcent, and attack the object of its purfuit, as it was 
 very near doing by Mr. Immelman. This gentleman, 
 
 Vol. II. Q having
 
 114 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^77^ havins; with great difficulty made his efcape, ftriick into a 
 
 December. , . -, r rr^ i i i- i -i i 
 
 v^y-Y^^ by-path, m order, arter pafling through a httle dale, to 
 get into the fir ait and plain road. In this road he over- 
 took me, on a fpot whither I had retired to fcreen myfelf 
 and my horfe from the burning rays of the fun, and was 
 overlooking my drawings and memorandums. He was ftill 
 fomewhat out of breath in confequence of his adventure, 
 at the time he gave me an account of it ; and I, for my 
 part, could not help in fome meafure envying his good 
 fortune, in having at fo cheap a rate feen this huge un- 
 wieldy animal alive, together with the motions it made in' 
 the cumberfome hide in which it was incafed : but, indeed, 
 he himfelf had feen fo little of it, that we foon came to an 
 agreement to ride up together on the other fide of the very 
 hill, in which he had juft been put to flight by the rhinoceros. 
 From hence we thought we fliould be able to defcry this 
 creature on the plain ; but that we might not be betrayed 
 by the effluvia of our bodies, in cafe he fliould return again 
 to the thicket, we threw fome duft into the air, in order 
 to determine more accurately w^hich way the wind was, 
 and thus be able to diredl our courfe precifely in oppofltion 
 to it. And indeed, we had not been long arrived at the 
 fpot before my horfe began to be a little fliy, and at length 
 was quite reftive, behaving juft as he had done before 
 when I firft rode him up to the carcafes of the two 
 rhinocerofes. This circumftance I took notice of to my 
 companion, confldering it as a fign that, in all pro- 
 bability, there was a rhinoceros near the fpot ; but 
 he went on, faying, it was impoffible, as it did not 
 flrike him juft then^ that there might be more than 
 
 one
 
 C A P E Of G O O D H O P E, 115 
 
 one in that vicinity. We therefore advanced flill nearer, ^ ^""v 
 
 ■* ' December 
 
 till being but fifteen paces off, I heard a ruftling noife V-*^vv-^ 
 like that of an animal railing itfelf up leifurely on its legs. 
 Immediately upon this appeared a rhinoceros, with its horn 
 projecting over one of thebufhes. I now thought it high 
 time for us to turn back immediately, and made figns to 
 my companion, that it might be done as Ulently as poflible. 
 He too had perceived the fnout of this animal, and we rode 
 away as foftly as polTible ; our horfes' feet, neverthelefs, 
 made a crackling noife among the dry branches which had 
 fallen from the trees, and with which the narrow paths 
 between the bufhes were every where covered. On this 
 account, we did not neglecfl during our retreat to look be- 
 hind us, in order that we might make oif as fafl as poflible, 
 in cafe the rhinoceros fliould have been alarmed by the 
 noife, and have been induced to purfue us. What I call 
 paths were merely tracks made by the buffaloes and rhino - 
 cerofes forcing their way through the thickets ; but among 
 thefe likewife we found many blind paths, i. e. fuch as 
 terminated on a fudden in fome high and impenetrable 
 bufli. Into a place of this fort w^e might in our flight 
 eafily have ftrayed, and there have been caught by the rhi- 
 noceros, as it were, in a trap. This adventure made us 
 afterwards fafpedl, that every bufh harboured a rhinoceros ; 
 and induced us for fome time to give up all thoughts of 
 reconnoitring among the buflies with fo much afTurance, 
 an animal that did not appear as if it was to be trifled 
 with. 
 
 1 think we may infer from the preceding relation, that 
 this rhinoceros was different from that which put Mr. Immel- 
 
 Q 2 MAN,
 
 ;ii6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '77v MAN to fliiiht ; as likewife, that this latter did not purfue us, 
 
 Deceml.er, , , . r c i • 
 
 V.^N'^^J by realon that, in conlequence or our having rode up to 
 it full in the face of the wind, it could not get fcent of us ; 
 befides, this animal did not hear our talking nor the crack- 
 ling of the branches, with a fufficient degree of certainty 
 to engage it to make an attack upon us : and in fine, it 
 appears, that it had with great forecall chofen a thick and 
 high bufli, bv vv av of entrenchment, on that fide of the 
 bufh, from whence the wind prevented it from getting 
 fcent of any thing. If 1 may form any conclufion from 
 my horfe's flopping, it would feem, that he had got fcent 
 of this beaft as far off as the di fiance of forty or fifty paces^ 
 though the wind was very moderate from that quarter. 
 
 On our way homewards (for fo we always called our 
 waggon, or encampment in the defert) we came within 
 piflol-fliot of a herd of elk-antilopes^ probably the fame w^ith 
 thofe we had given chafe to in the morning without fuccefs; 
 but what was very fingular, they at this time hardly fhev/ed 
 the leaft fear. The males, which were of the fize of an or- 
 dinary galloway, appeared much more bulky and corpulent 
 than their females, and feemed to run rather heavily. 
 
 In the evening we received an unexpe6led vilit. This 
 was from eight colonifls, who were come hither from Cam- 
 debo with four waggons, and had brought with them two 
 of their wives, and a couple of children. They were go- 
 ing to the falt-pit before-mentioned near Zzvartkops-vivtVy 
 in order to fetch fait from thence ; but having been told by 
 us of the violent drought they would, meet with in their 
 v/ay thither, part of them only went with two waggons, 
 tliat being fewer of them, they might be lefs liable to fuf- 
 7 fer 
 
 I
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 
 
 fer for want of water. Thefe people informed us, that 
 that very day they had chanced to awake a rhinoceros 
 juft by the road fide; but that the beafl, probably feared 
 by the noife and buflle it heard from different quarters at 
 once, ran by them without doing them any hurt. They 
 related to me, however, an initance, in which a rhinoceros 
 had run up to a waggon, and carried it a good way along 
 with him on his- fnout and horns. They likewife inform- 
 ed us, that the diftemper among the horfes had already 
 begun to commit ravages in the diflridt of Camdebo^ where, 
 however, it otherwife feldom ufed to make its appearance 
 till th€ month of April.. The reafon of this, probably^, 
 was the univerfal drought that prevailed this year. 
 
 T17 
 
 December. 
 
 CHAR
 
 liS A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 December. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Journey from Ouarrmedacka to Agter BrmitjeS' 
 
 Hoogte. 
 
 ON the 2 1 ft at nine in the morning we left the pool at 
 ^ T ^ ^ajnmedackaj which we had by this time drank dry, 
 
 and arrived at noon at Little Fifcb-rivier^ where we again 
 pitched our tents. We here found a herd of fpring-boks, 
 a couple of which we fhot. At five o'clock this morning 
 the thermometer was at 5 2 degrees, at twelve at 8 2, and at 
 half paft three at 95 degrees. The evening was very 
 much overcaft. In this tra6t of country there was a great 
 drought on both lides of the river, but ftill greater farther 
 on towards the north, where the foil was more gravelly, 
 and produced a greater quantity of fucculent plants. In 
 the fpaces between thefe, befides flirubs and bufhes, there 
 was fometimes to be found a little dry grafs ; every where 
 elfe, the ground was as dry and bare as a high road with a 
 clayey bottom. Between ten and eleven o'clock at night, 
 we heard the roaring of a lion ; and though it only roared 
 twice, the animals we had with \is were very reftlefs the 
 whole night throughout. 
 
 On
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 
 
 119 
 
 On the 2 2d early in the morning, we crofled Little Vifch" ^ '775- 
 
 . ^ "^ December. 
 
 rivier^ it benig luppoled, that where we then were, it would v^y-yx^ 
 not be fo well worth our while to look after the hippota- 
 mus<i or fea-cow, an animal that is bigger than the rhino- 
 ceros, and lives both in the water and on dry ground, 
 (vid. Plate IV. of this volume.) This, in fa6l, having feen 
 the rhinoceros, was what I now chiefly laid out for. 
 
 Between nine and ten o'clock, being on our march, we 
 faw two large lions. They were about three hvmdred paces 
 from us, in a little vale. The inftant they perceived us, 
 they betook themfelves to flight. Being very defirous to 
 have a nearer view of thefe animals, we rode in purfuit of 
 them, all the while fhouting and calling out after them. 
 Upon this they mended their pace till they got down to the 
 fide of the river, which we had juft crolTed, and there hid 
 themfelves in the thickets. Urged by their curiofity, two 
 of our Hottentots likewife followed behind us, one armed 
 with a couple of hafTagais, and the other with a gun. 
 We ourfelves were without any arms whatever, but I 
 imagine we ran no rifk in this chafe, as we could eafily 
 have turned back and fetched our arms, in cafe the lions 
 had thought proper to purfue us. In running they had a 
 kind of fideling pace, like that of a dog, accompanied now 
 and then with a flight bound. Their necks were all the 
 while fomewhat raifed, and they feemed to look afkance at 
 us over their Ihoulders. One of them had a mane, and con- 
 fequently was a male; but both of them were nearly of an 
 equal fize, and feemed to be conliderably higher and longer 
 than our faddle-horfes, which were of the lize of common 
 galloways. Neither our horfes, nor fever al gazels which 
 
 were
 
 120 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 '775- were on the fpot, feemed in the leaft afraid of thefe Hons, 
 
 December. ■* 
 
 ,^•^-0 though they were as near them as we were. As the lion 
 feldom or never attacks his prey openly, it feems that he 
 does not flrike the other animals with any high degree of 
 terror, except when they take the fcent of him, vv^hich 
 nature has rendered highly difguflful to them. 
 
 This day likewife we feared a male oftrich away from 
 its neft, which was in the middle of the plains. This 
 nefl, however, confifted of nothing but the ground itfelf, 
 on which the eggs lay fcattered and loofe. Hence it fol- 
 lows, that the oll:rich does not leave its eggs to be hatched 
 by the fun, but likewife, at leaft in this part of Africa, fits 
 upon them herfelf : we may alfo infer, that the male and 
 the female lit upon them alternately. The Hottentots too 
 affured me of this fa^, which has hitherto been unknown 
 to naturalifts. 
 
 So that Thevenot is in the right when he aflerts, that 
 the oflrich lives in monogamy, or with one female ; though 
 he is quite alone in this affertion : and the practice is con- 
 trary to the cuftom of the larger kind of birds. 
 
 I do not pretend by any means to determine the exa6t: 
 number of eggs laid by this bird; the number of thofe we 
 at this time found was only eleven ; they were all frefli, and 
 probably were to have had feveral more added to them. 
 Another time two of my Hottentots feared another oflrich 
 ^way from its nefl, out of which they took fourteen egg$, 
 and brought them to me, having left fome behind, which 
 did not feem to them to be quite fo frefli ; fo that perhaps 
 fixteen, eighteen, or twenty, is the higheft amount of the 
 number of eggs laid by this bird : and yet it appears to me, 
 
 that
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. lar 
 
 that it miift be very difficult for the ollrich to cover fo ^ ^775- 
 
 December. 
 
 many with its body. A brood of young ones, fcarcely two v^^vO 
 feet high, which I faw in the diftricft of Roode-Zand, feem- 
 ed to me to amount to fome fuch number ; but the oftrich- 
 chicks which I had taken on the i6th of this month at 
 Kurekoi-ku, were about a foot in height. May we not 
 hkewife conchide from hence, that the oflriches in Africa 
 have no fet times for laying their tggs ? 
 
 Some of my more obferving readers may, perhaps, won- 
 der how I am able to afliire them, that it was a male of- 
 trich which I feared away from the neft. To this I an- 
 fwer, that in all this part of Africa it is looked upon as an in- 
 difputable fa6l, that fuch of thefe birds which are males, carry 
 white feathers in their tails and wings, while their backs 
 and bellies are covered v>ith black. The females, on the 
 contrary, carry black feathers only in their tails and wings, 
 while thofe on their bodies are of an afli-colour. This 
 likewife accords with the diifediions made of this bird in 
 Europe, (Vide Buffon, p. 429.) What ferves farther ta 
 convince me, that the cock ofhrich affifts the hen in hatch- 
 ing her eggs, is, that in the nefl which I have been juil 
 Ipeaking of, there were found feveral white feathers, as 
 wtII as a number of black ones, both of which would na*- 
 turally fall into it whilfb the birds were fitting. Nature, per- 
 haps, has found it the more neceffary to order both fexes of 
 the oftrich mutually to affifl each other in hatching their eggs, 
 as the frame of their bodies is large, and they are furnifhed 
 with many flomachs, and at the fame time are craving be- 
 yond many others of the feathered race ; fo that they could 
 not bear the ufual courfe of fafting during the whole time 
 
 Vol. II. R of
 
 122 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 "^n^- of iittiiiG;, nearly fo well as the females of other birds. 
 
 December. ^ ir-ii-i 
 
 ^^.^YN-^ The authors who have delcnbed the young of the oftrich, 
 as being covered with fmall grey feathers, are perfedly in 
 the right. With a plumage of this colour, even their necks 
 and thighs are clothed ; parts, which in the full-grown 
 birds, are deftincd to be naked, while the refl of their 
 bodies are adorned with feathers. The moft beautiful 
 and curled of thefe compofe the tail of the oftrich, and 
 confequently it is chiefly for the purpofe of adorning 
 our heads with them, that we deprive this bird of its life 
 or freedom. 
 
 In this colony, however, I did not fee oftrich feathers 
 made any other ufe of, than to brufli away the flies ; for 
 which purpofe, whifks were made of them of a confiderable 
 length as well as breadth, with which a Have or two were 
 employed in driving away thefe animals from the table, 
 while the family were at their meals. The Hottentots, 
 who eat all forts of fiefli, eat likewife that of the oftrich ; 
 but the eggs I have {^qx\. ufed by the colonifts, and that 
 even at the Gape, for pancakes and aumelets. While 
 we were travelling through the defert, we found it an- 
 fwer beft to fupple our throats with them juft before we 
 took our chocolate or tea ; and likewife to clarify our coffee 
 with them, or elfe to ftew them, for want of pans, in our 
 porridge-pot, having previoufly thrown into it a little fat ; 
 a difti I had learnt to prepare in Sweden by the name of 
 oeufs perdus, 
 
 Oftriches eggs are eatable, indeed, in all thefe ways, but 
 not equal to hen's eggs. They are, as it were, of a 
 coarfer nature and thicker confiftence, and at the fame 
 
 time
 
 C A PE OF G O O D H O PE. 123 
 
 time more filling and liifcious. One of the lar^eil fliells ^ ^775- 
 
 *-* '-' December. 
 
 of the oftriches eggs, kept in the cabinet of the Royal Aca- v^v->«; 
 demy, I found, on examination, to weigh eleven ounces, 
 to be fix inches and a half in depth, and to hold five pints 
 and a quarter liquid meafare. It is of the fliape of a com- 
 mon egg, I never found the v^eight of the frefh eggs ex- 
 ceed this in any extraordinary proportion ; fo that when M. 
 DE BuFFON (in page 426, 427) computes the weight of one 
 of thefe eggs at fifteen pounds, this bold allertion of his feems 
 to require to be mentioned, only in order to be confuted. — 
 I have already, in Vol. I. page 130, related the method 
 of hunting the oftriches in this country ; but that this bird 
 contents itfelf barely with hiding its head, when it finds it 
 cannot make its efcape, is a matter which I do not remem- 
 ber ever to have heard mentioned at the Cape ; but even 
 were it a fait, ftill Pliny's explication of it is not more 
 abfurd than M. de Buffon's manner of accounting for it, 
 1. c. page 448. Children, indeed, who play at hide and 
 leek, are apt to imagine that they are concealed, when they 
 cover their heads, fo that they themfelves cannot fee. I 
 have likewife frequently obferved turkey-poults merely hide 
 their heads, fo as not to be able to fee any thing, when 
 they were warned by their mother's cries of the hawk's 
 approach. How then can one expe6t a greater degree of 
 confideration in a bird, in other refpedts very ftupid, and 
 which is in danger of its life ? 
 
 M. deBuffon, page 448, calls the fkin of this creature 
 very thick; but in this refpedl it is but equal at the beft to 
 goat's or calf 's-fkin ; fo that how fiu' the Arabians can ufe 
 
 R 2 it
 
 J24 A. VOYAGE to the 
 
 »775- it for harnefTes and fluields (1. c. page 443) does not feem 
 
 December. , _ ^ . • n.- ^* 
 
 v^^^Y^^ to deferve a lerious inveftigation. 
 
 The cry of the oftrich, according to the defcription I 
 have had given me of it in Africa, in fome refpe6ls refem- 
 bles the roaring of the lion, but is fliorter, or, in other words, 
 not drawn out to fo great a length. In this cafe, its cry muft 
 neceffarily be hoarfe and rough, as well as fill the breaft of the 
 hearer with anxiety and terror; and confequently the pro- 
 phet MicAH, chap. i. ver. 8, has not unaptly compared it 
 to the voice of a mourner ; if in fa6t by the word tiDV^ in 
 this and other places of holy writ, the oftrich is meant, and 
 not a kind of owl. 
 
 The young of this bird have no cry at all ; one, at 
 leaft, a foot and a half high, which on my return home- 
 wards I brought with me alive to the Cape all the way 
 from Honing'kHp<i did not, during the whole time, viz. 
 twenty-four days, let us hear any thing of it. This was 
 trampled to death by my horfe, juft before my departure 
 from the Cape^ otherwife it might have eafily been brought 
 to Europe, It ate a great deal, and was not nice in its 
 food. 
 
 There were feveral large tame oft riches in the governors 
 menagerie at the Cape, Without feeming to be impeded 
 by their weight, they would run along with any body what- 
 foever, and would moveover jump up and perch upon the 
 llioulders of all fuch as would fufFer it. In confequence of 
 having made this obfervation, as well as of fimilar inftances 
 to be found in authors, I cannot doubt, but that oftriches 
 might be brought to bear burdens and the like, fo as to 
 become ufeful to mankind. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 125 
 
 The inftance which is given us by Adanson of a young j^^^J^^^^^ 
 oftrich, not properly trained up to this employ, is there- V^vv^ 
 fore not capable of railing in me the fame doubts as are 
 entertained by M. de Buffon on this fubje6l. And yet 
 we read in this illullrious author, 1. c. that Firmius, who 
 reigned in Egypt in the third century, was drawn by 
 oftriches ; and that in yoar^ in Africa, an Englilliman was 
 feen riding on an oftrich, on which he ufed to take jour- 
 nies. See. I have converfed with yeomen at the Cape, 
 who had brought up oftriches fo tame, that they went loofe 
 to and from the farm, and were obliged to feek their own 
 food ; but at the fame time were fo voracious as to fwal- 
 low chickens whole, and trample hens to death, in order to 
 tear them to pieces afterwards and eat them up. At a cer- 
 tain farm they were obliged to kill one of thefe oftriches, 
 as he had taken to trampling flieep to death. Quere, Does 
 not the oftrich eat fnakes likewife ? 
 
 Thefe large birds were, as it appeared to me, chiefly to 
 be found in fuch tracts of country as partook of the pro- 
 perties of the carrozv^ and produced fucculent plants. I 
 faw but one of them in the four diftridl, as it is called, of 
 Lange Kloof \ but this might very probably, like the ele- 
 phant in the fame diftridl, of which I have already given 
 an account. Vol. I. page 315, have got out of its latitude. 
 
 Another kind of large bird, which I have mentioned 
 before, as being in the governor's menagerie, viz. the ca- 
 fuary<i was not a native of Africa. 
 
 This had been a very warm day, and though it might 
 feem that I ought by this time to have been inured to heat, 
 yet in confequence of it, I was feized with a violent head- 
 
 ach.
 
 t^6 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 ^^775- ach. I found great relief, however, by wafhing my head 
 
 December. ^ -i o j 
 
 sS^^y^ in running water in great Vijch-rivier, Two of my Hot- 
 tentots Hkewife complained of being afFed:ed in the fame 
 manner, but were foon made eafy by giving them a little 
 hemp to fmoke. I had forgot to look at the thermometer 
 this day till ten o'clock in the evening. Even at that late 
 hour it w^as at 78. At dark there fell a few drops of 
 rain. This night we did not hear the lions roar in the leaft. 
 
 Very early on the 23d we proceeded again on our journey, 
 to look out for the fea-cows near fome other pit belonging 
 to great Vifch-rivier. There was now again a great fcarcity 
 of meat in the waggon ; for which reafon my Hottentots 
 began to grumble, and reminded me, that we ought not 
 to wafte fo much of our time in looking after infects and 
 plants, but give a better look out after the game. At the 
 fame time they pointed to a neighbouring dale over-run 
 with wood, at the upper edge of which, at the diftance of 
 a mile and a quarter from the fpot where we then were, 
 they had feen feveral buffaloes. Accordingly we went 
 thither, but though our fatigue was lefTened by our Hot- 
 tentots carrying our guns for us up a hill, yet we were 
 quite out of breath and overcome by the heat of the fun, 
 before we got up to it. Yet, what even now appears to me 
 a matter of wonder is, that as foon as we had got a glimpfe 
 of the game, all this languor left us in an inftant. In 
 fadl, we each of us ftrove to fire before the other, fo that 
 we feemed entirely to have lofl fight of all prudence and 
 caution. When we advanced to within twenty or thirty 
 paces of the beaft, and confequently were, perhaps, like- 
 wife in fome degree aduated by our fears, we difcharged 
 
 our
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 127 
 
 our pieces pretty nearly at the fame time ; while the buf- j^J/g^Jber. 
 falo, which was upon rather lower ground than we were, \^y^^ 
 behind a thin fcambling bufli, feemed to turn his head 
 round in order to make towards us. In the mean while, 
 however, the moment we had difcharged our guns, we 
 had the pleafure to fee him fall, and dire6tly afterwards 
 run down into the thickeft part of the wood. This in- 
 duced us to hope, that our lliot had proved mortal : for 
 which reafon, we had the imprudence to follow him down 
 into the clofe thickets, where, luckily for vis, we could 
 get no farther. We had, however, as we found after- 
 wards, only hit the hindmoft part of the chine, where the 
 balls, which lay at the diftance of three inches from each 
 other, had been fliivered to pieces againfl the bones. In 
 the mean while our temerity, which chiefly jDroceeded 
 from hurry and ignorance, was confidered by the Hotten- 
 tots as a proof of fpirit and intrepidity hardly to be equal- 
 led ; on which account, from that inftant, they ever after 
 appeared to entertain an infinitely higher opinion of our 
 courage than they had ever done before. Several of our 
 Hottentots now came to us, and threw flones down into the 
 dale, though without fuccefs, in order to find out by the 
 bellowings of the beaft, whither he had retired : afterwards, 
 however, he feemed to have plucked up his courage, for 
 he came up at laft out of the dale of his own accord to the 
 ikirts of the wood, and placed himfelf fo as to have a full 
 view of us on the fpot, where we were refling ourfelves 
 fomewhat higher up : his intention was, in all probability, 
 and in the opinion of our old fportfmen, to revenge him- 
 felf on us, if we had not happened to fee him in time, 
 
 and
 
 128 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^775- and fired at him dire6lly. What, perhaps, in fome mea- 
 
 December. ^ 
 
 L^vv^ fiire put a Itop to his boldnefs was, that we flood on higher 
 ground than he did : for feveral veteran fportfmen have 
 affured me of it as a fa6l, that they know from experience, 
 that the buffaloes do not willingly venture to afcend any 
 hill or eminence in order to attack any one. The third 
 fhot, which afterwards was obferved to have entered at the 
 belly, was fatal. This occafioned the buffalo to take him- 
 felf down again into the vale, dying the ground and buflies 
 all the way he went with his blood. Though flill hot 
 upon the chafe, yet we advanced with the greatefl caution^ 
 accompanied by two of our Hottentots, through the thin 
 and more pervious part of the wood, where the buffalo 
 had taken refuge. He was advancing again in order to 
 attack fome of us, when Mr. 1mm elm an, from the place 
 where he was pofled, fliot him in the lungs. Notwith-- 
 {landing this, he had flill flrength enough left to make a- 
 circuit of a hundred and fifty paces, before we heard him 
 fall : during his fall, and before he died, he bellowed in 
 a mofl flupendous manner ; and this death-fong of his in- 
 fpired every one of us with joy, on account of the vi6lory we 
 had gained : and fo thoroughly fleeled is frequently the hu- 
 man heart againfl the fufferings of the brute creation, that 
 we hailened forwards, in order to enjoy the pleafure of feeing 
 the buffalo flruggle with the pangs of death. I happened to 
 be the foremofl amongft them ; but think it impoffible for 
 anguifli, accompanied by a favage fiercenefs, to be painted in 
 flronger colours than they were in the countenance of this 
 buffalo. I was within ten fleps of him when he perceived me^ 
 and, bellowing, raifed himfelf fuddenly again on his legs* I had 
 
 reafont
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 129 
 
 ^i-eafon to believe fince, that I was at the time very much j^^'^;^^;,^ 
 frightened ; for before I could well take my aim, I fired 0^-0 
 off my gun, and the Ihot miffed the whole of his huge 
 body, and only hit him in the hind legs, as we afterwards 
 difcovered by the lize of the ball. Immediately upon this 
 I flew away like lightning, in order to look out for fome 
 tree to climb up into. 
 
 Notwithftanding the tedious prolixity it might occafion 
 me to be guilty of, I thought the beft and readied method 
 of giving my reader an idea of the nature of this animal, 
 and of the method of hunting it, as well as of other con- 
 tingent circumflances, w^ould be to adduce an inflance or 
 two of what occurred during the chafe. 
 
 My Hottentots cut up the buffalo with their ufual alacrity 
 and ardour ; but as they had a great way to carry the flefli to 
 the waggon, they took it thither in a rather unufual way. This 
 was as follows: they cut out large Hips of flefli whole and en- 
 tire, with holes in the middle, wide enough for them to put 
 their heads and arms through, and loaded themfelves with it 
 in this manner before, behind, and on every fide of them ; 
 the meat all the while dangling about their bodies in a 
 manner ludicrous enough, though not much adapted to 
 create an appetite in the fpedlator. In this way, their 
 hands being entirely difengaged, excepting that each man 
 carried a flick, they clambered up the brow of the hill that 
 overhung the vale, and thus walked on towards the wag- 
 gon, whither one might trace them all the way by the 
 blood. 
 
 In the mean while the Hottentot, who ^^'as our princi- 
 pal fliot, had, at no great diftancc from this place, fliot 
 
 Vol. II. S an
 
 130 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 i77v an elk-antilopej in confequence of which, we repaired thi- 
 v^^^^^' ther, in order to carry off the beft and fatteft part of the 
 flefli. Before we got back to the waggon, darknefs came 
 on, with thunder and hghtning ; and, to add to the terror 
 of the fcene, we heard the Hons roaring very loud. In- 
 deed we had good reafon to fear, that thefe wild beafts 
 would throw themfelves in our way, in order to fliare our 
 prey with us. Neither fhould we, in fadl, in the total 
 darknefs in which we were involved, have eaiily found our 
 way back to the waggon, if the Hottentots whom we had 
 left with it, had not been thoughtful and confiderate 
 enough to fmack the large ox- whip from time to time 
 by way of fignal. At length, when we arrived at the plain 
 where the waggon flood, we faw the fire they had made. 
 We had hardly got home, however, before there came on 
 a heavy fliower of rain, w^hich continued the greater part 
 of the night, and put out our fire ; while the tilt of our 
 waggon was in great danger of being carried away by a 
 violent fouth-eafl wind, with which the rain was accom- 
 panied ; at the fame time that the rain not only entered 
 the waggon by the fides of the tilt, but like wife penetrated 
 through the tilt-cloth, fo that we were not a whit better 
 fheltered there, than the Hottentots under their cloaks. 
 During all this, we frequently heard the roaring of the 
 lions, as well as the yelling of the hyaenas ; fome of which 
 latter fhole away a ftrap belonging to the tackling of our 
 waggon, together with a good quantity of the flefli which 
 the Hottentots had hung up at the diflance of a few paces 
 from the fpot where they lay. 
 
 This
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 131 
 
 This day the thermometer at five o'clock in the morninsc 1^ ^''"V 
 was at 74 degrees, precifely at noon at 99, and in the af- ^^yy^ 
 ternoon it rofe to 100. 
 
 On the 24th I was induced to flay a little longer on this 
 fpot, hy the hopes of fliooting a gnu, which had been 
 feen ranging by itfelf about this part of the country. 
 
 T^'Gnu is the Hottentot name for a fingular animal, which, 
 with refpedl to its form, is between the horfe and the ox. 
 The fize of it is about that of a common galloway, the 
 length of it being fomewhat above five, and the height of 
 it rather more than four feet. The proportion of the 
 parts to each other may be befl feen by the figure given in 
 Plate II. of this Volume, which reprefents this animal in the 
 attitude into which it puts itfelf wiien it is going to butt any 
 one ; in confequence of which, we have been able to give 
 a x^roper idea of the pofition of the horns, and the manner 
 in which they lay, as it were, flat upon the head : while, 
 on the contrary, in a drawing which accompanies ProfefTor 
 Allamand's fine defcription of this creature, and which 
 has been copied in a compilation, entitled, " Nouvelle De- 
 fcription du Cap de B, Efperance, the horns appear almofl 
 as if they grew out of the mane itfelf. 
 
 This animal is of a dark-brown colour all over, except- 
 ing the tail and mane, which are of a light-grey ; the fhag 
 on the chin, under the lower jaw, and on the breafl is black, 
 as likewife are the fliff hairs which fland up ere6l on the 
 forehead and upper part of the face. It is fomewhat fin- 
 gular, that M. All A MAN D, who was the firft that defcribed 
 this fpecies of animal from one which was brought from the 
 Cape to Holland, found the colour of its mane and body 
 
 S 2 extremely
 
 132 
 
 »775- 
 3ecemb 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »775- extremely different from what I have defcribed it to be 
 above, and from what I have obferved in Africa, and which 
 may like wife be feen on the fkin of this animal I brought 
 home with me. This difference probably proceeds from a 
 diverfity of age, climate, or other accidental circumftances. 
 
 At firft fight one would be apt to pronounce, that the 
 gnu moft refembles the ox kind ; but with refpedt to the 
 following particulars, this beait may likewife be referred to 
 the capr(£ in general, or to the genus which the great zoolo- 
 gift, M. Pallas, has feparated from them under the deno^ 
 inination of ant Hopes, 
 
 1 . The legs of the gnu are as fmall as thofe of the an- 
 tilope^ or the gazel kind ; and, like them, have fmall fet- 
 lock-bones and hoofs. 
 
 2. ^\\^ gnu refembles the antilopes and capra in its hair, 
 inafmuch as this is fliort, jufl as it is in the hart kind. In 
 its fliag, the gnu refembles the capra more than oxen. 
 With refpedl to its mane, it is manifeftly difhindt from 
 thefe latter animals ; but fomewhat refembles another large 
 caprd'^ or antilope (the antilope oryx) by the colonifts called 
 the Cape-elk, (vide Plate I. of this Volume.) With regard to 
 the tail, it does not in the leaft refemble an ox's tail, but ra- 
 ther that of a horfe ; and in this point fomewhat coincides 
 with another large antilope, viz. the hartbeeft, (vide Plate I. 
 of this Volume.) This laft-mentioned antilope, according to 
 the accounts given me by feveral perfons at the Gape, falls 
 upon its knees when it is going to butt any one ; and pro- 
 bably the gnu refembles it in this point likewife, as M. 
 Allamand remarked of the gnu which was brought to 
 
 I Holland,
 
 C A P E OF G O O D HO P E. 133 
 
 Holland, that it fometimes fell on its knees, and butted ^ ^775- 
 
 ' Uecemberj 
 
 againft the ground. V^r^ 
 
 3. The gnu, like many of the hart and antilope kind^ 
 has a vifible 7?;2^J, ox porus febaceus^ or ceriferus^ below and 
 juft before each eye. This iinus, which has not been re- 
 marked by M. Allamand, is (juft as in the hartbeeft,) about 
 one line in diameter, and encompalTed with a little tuft of 
 black hair. Pores of this kind, or apertures in the fkin, 
 which excrete a fubftance of the nature of ear-wax, are 
 not to be found, as far as I have been able to learn,- in any 
 fpecies of the ox kind. 
 
 4. The noife made by the tame calf of a gnu, which 
 I have frequently heard cry, did not in the leaft refemble the 
 bleating of the common fawn. 
 
 5. I did not find that the flefh of this animal had any 
 thing of the flavour of beef or of buffalo's fleili, but v/as 
 rather like that of the other antilopes or gazels about the 
 Cape ; it had, however, a finer grain, and was more juicy 
 than the iiefh of the hartbeeft, and confequently was 
 much more delicate than beef. 
 
 6. I find from the difiedlion I made of a fav/n of a gnu, 
 that its vifcera refemble thofe of the other antilopes which 
 I had examined, more than the vifcera of the ox, but that 
 they bear no refemblance whatever to thofe of a horfe : 
 fo that this circumftance is fufiicient entirely to overthrow 
 the conjecture, of thofe who imagine, that the gnu is pro- 
 duced by the copulation of a horfe with a cow. 
 
 What makes it ftill lefs credible, that the gnu iiiould be 
 the offspring of fuch an intermixture as I have mentioned, 
 is, that thefe animals are almoft always ^qqw in large herds, 
 
 and,
 
 December, 
 
 134 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^n"!)' and, as far as I can learn, are in Africa to be found only 
 in Caindebo and Agter Bruntjes-hoogte ; from whence it is 
 only a few years ago, that one of them was carried to the 
 Cape, and from thence to Holland : confequently, the gnu 
 then wandering in thefe parts was, probably, an old buck, 
 which did not care to keep company any longer with the 
 herd it belonged to, or had been accidentally feparated 
 from it. 
 
 As this that was feen here kept upon the open plains, 
 and we could not Ileal upon it by creeping towards it from 
 among the buflies, I endeavoured to overtake it on horfe- 
 back. And indeed, at firft I got almoft within gun-fliot of 
 the animal, when it fliewed its vicious difpofition in making 
 various curvets and plunges, flinging out behind with one 
 or both legs, and butting againft the mole-hills with its 
 horns ; but immediately upon this, it fled with confider- 
 able velocity in a dire6l line over the plain as far as the eye 
 could difcern it : and I cannot help thinking, but that this 
 was one that was become furious, as the other gnus I have 
 chafed lince would frequently ftop to look back at their 
 purfuers, as foon as they had gained ground of them in 
 any confiderable degree. What contributed not a little to 
 this gnu's having efcaped from me was, that the ground was 
 rocky, and that an ardent defire for difledling this animal 
 induced me to pufli my horfe on too fall at firft ; fo that in 
 a very little time it was quite out of breath, and all over 
 in a tremor. 
 
 A conliderable number of eagles and birds of prey that 
 feed upon carcafes, were feafting on and fighting for the 
 elk-antilope we had Ihot the day before, and had already 
 
 confumed
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 135 
 
 confumed almofl all the flefli we had left behind us. I ^ ^775' 
 
 December. 
 
 likewife feared a jackal away from the carcafe. I could V^^vO 
 not at this time pretend to chafe it, as my horfe was not 
 recovered from the fatigue of purfuing the gnu. This day 
 we likewife faw a numerous herd of quaggas^ which not 
 unfrequently made their appearance in thefe deferts. Scarce- 
 ly a day pafled without our feeing a great number of hart- 
 bee/Is between the two /^//^Z'- rivers, 2ind fpring-boks by the 
 hundreds and thoufands at a time. 
 
 It was now the 24th of December, a period which the 
 Chriftians all over the world ufually fpend in mirth and 
 feftivity. My friend and I, though in the midft of a de- 
 fer t, and feparated from the reft of mankind, were defirous 
 of partaking of this religious jubilee ; we therefore over- 
 hauled our ftock of bifcuit, and found that on occalion of 
 this great holiday, we could afford to give out two to each 
 man. As to the reft of our fare, we treated ourfelves with 
 an oftrich-egg, part of which was ftewed in our porridge- 
 pot, the remainder being boiled up with fome coffee, a 
 fmall bafon full of which was diftributed to every one of 
 our company. The third difli confifted of a piece of elk's 
 flefli. This day at noon the thermometer had been at 84, 
 but towards the evening fell to 76. — At night our Hot- 
 tentots faftened a piece of meat to a long ftout ftrap in fuch 
 a manner, that if the wolf fliould come and attempt to 
 fwallow the meat, he would be caught faft by the ftrap 
 till they could lay hold of him and kill him ; but the 
 beaft was not at that time in this part of the country, and 
 confequently we could not difcover how far this new in- 
 vention of theirs was pradlicable. 
 
 On
 
 136 A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 ^ ^77S' On the 1 c.\\\ the thermometer rofe to 100 dee'rees. We 
 
 December. • ^ r 
 
 C^y-w' "iiiow repaired to a Jea-cow hole, {Zeeko-gat) near Fijcb-ri- 
 roie}\ to look for the hippopotamus. 
 
 On the 26 th the wind blew agreeably cool, and the ther- 
 iTiometer at noon was not above 79. This day we over- 
 -took feveral farmers from Jlgter Bruntjes-boogte, who were 
 -come into this neighbourhood for the purpofe of hunting. 
 I could not help fmiling, though at the fame time I w^as 
 covered with confufion, at thefe good ruflics viewing us fo 
 narrowly as they did from head to foot ; while, on the 
 other hand, I could not but allow their as well as our fur- 
 prize, at this unexpected vilit to be extremely natural. Infacfl, 
 they found me with a beard which had not been touched 
 iince the end of the preceding month, without a flock, and 
 with my waiftcoat open at the breaft, my hat flapped, my 
 hair braided into a twifl, my fide- curls hanging down 
 ftrait and fluttering in the air ; a fine thin linen coat, with 
 a w^hite ground variegated with blood, dabs of gunpowdei', 
 and fpots of dirt and greafe of all kinds ; but at the fame 
 time decorated with fine gilt buttons, a third part of which 
 were fallen off, and a great many of them dangled about 
 loofe and were ready to follow the others. As to the other 
 part of my drefs, my breeches, for the fake of coolnefs, were 
 turned up at the knees, in the manner in which they are 
 frequently worn by the boors of this country ; and after the 
 fame guife, and for a fimilar reafon, my ftockings, which 
 were woollen, were gartered below my knees, at the fame 
 time that they hung down loofe about my ankles ; while 
 my feet were fet off with Hottentot flioes, made to draw 
 
 np
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 137 
 
 tip with firings, of the fame kind with thofe reprefented ^775- 
 
 -^■i -r T7- T -r T^. December, 
 
 in Plate I. Vol. I. Fig. 4. \^y\J 
 
 Mr. Immelman, who, in fadl, was a handfome young 
 fellow, with large dark eye-brows and a fine head of hair, 
 at this time wore a beard five weeks old, which was now 
 beginning to curl in a very confpicuous manner. As to 
 the reft of his appearance, he figured on horfeback in a 
 long night-gown, with a white night- cap, large wide boots, 
 and, if I remember right, was juft at that time without 
 Hockings, in order to keep his legs the cooler. It may be 
 neceffary here, perhaps, to make fome excufe both for our 
 beards and our drefs. As to our beards, we had both of 
 us in a merry mood, formed a refolution not to touch a hair 
 of them either with razors or fcilTors, till we fliould either 
 get into company again with the Chrifhian lafi:es, or fliould 
 have an opportunity of diflecfting a hippopotamus. Added 
 to this, we wiflied to try how a long beard would become 
 our juvenile years. " It is a prefent made to us by nature, 
 faid we to each other, let us keep it by way of experiment. 
 Our beards, perhaps, prevent our catching cold, and getting 
 defluxions and the tooth-ache in cold nights ; at leaf!: it is 
 probable, that in this climate they defend the face from the 
 fcorching rays of the fun ; and who can tell, what refpedi: 
 and confideration it may acquire us from the beardlefs tribes 
 we are likely to meet with in the courfe of our expedition.'^ 
 This refolution of ours, which we pertinaciouily adhered 
 to, gave rife in the mean while to many ludicrous conver- 
 fations; but I muft confefs, that we felt ourfelves delivered 
 from a very heavy burden, when we got rid of our beards. 
 Again, as to our clothing,, it was entirely adapted to the 
 Vol. II. T warmth
 
 1 3 S A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^ ^'ii\- warmth of the climate and our own convenience; neither 
 
 December. 
 
 C^v^ was there any danger of its leiTening us m the eyes of our 
 own Hottentots, or of thofe we might expe6t to meet with in 
 the defert. As for my woollen flockings, I wore them prin- 
 cipally with a view to keep off the flies, as well as to pre- 
 ferve my legs from the bites of ferpents, and from being 
 torn by the branches of trees. Mr. I mm elm an thought 
 that boots were more convenient, and would anfwer this 
 purpofe better. Being an African by birth, he w^as not 
 afraid of being fun-burned ; on which account Ukewife, in 
 order to keep his hair out of his eyes, he generally rode 
 in his night-cap. 
 
 On the 27th at feven in the morning the thermometer 
 flood at 60 degrees, the preceding night having appeared 
 to us extremely cool. At noon the thermometer was at 
 95. At five in the afternoon it had fallen to 83, when 
 there came a fliower of rain with thunder and lightning. 
 At nine in the evening the thermometer w^as at 7 9 degrees. 
 
 On the 29th I forded over Great Vifch-rivier^ and exa- 
 mined feveral fea-cows fcuUs that lay on the other fide of 
 it, and found them perfe6lly accord with the defcription 
 and delineation given of thefe parts by M. de Buffon. 
 
 I now began to be incommoded by a flight pain and fwel- 
 ling in the fore part of the breail,- juft at the edge of the 
 flernum, which gave me great uneafinefs ; but it went off 
 in the fpace of a few days, and in all probability was only 
 a fore-runner of the gout, the fymptoms of which had al- 
 ready begun to appear in a flight pain and fenfation of, 
 hurning in the foles of my feet. This diforder, which fell 
 particularly heavy on a botanifl, and one who was travel- 
 ling
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 139 
 
 ling through extenfive deferts, I had probably brought up- t^JJ'^^^ 
 on myfelf, by having undergone too great fatigue. At V^vo 
 leafl one of our horfes was afflidled from this very caufe 
 with a kind of gout or tendernefs in the feet, together 
 with a fwelling in the paflern-joints, as foon as it got home 
 to the Cape. The day before we had eaten our lail bifcuit, 
 our patience, in confequence of waiting fo long to fee the 
 hippopotamus^ was almofl as near being exhauiled as our 
 bread ; we, therefore, the next day came to a refolution 
 to go again into a land inhabited by Chriflians. 
 
 On the 29th we were condu6led by our Bofliies-men. 
 from Great to Little Fifcb-rivier, This tradt of country 
 was thinly covered with thorn-trees (jnimofa nilotica,) which 
 fliaded the ground and kept it cool ; fo that being in forae 
 meafure covered with grafs, it exhibited an agreeable ver- 
 dure, and at the fame time harboured a confiderable num- 
 ber of fpringers^ quaggas^ and hartbeejls^ of which latter 
 we fliot a young female. The mufcles and fibres of this 
 creature retained a convulfive motion and twitching, even 
 for feveral minutes after the animal had been cut in pieces. 
 I mud confefs, that I never, either before or iince, have 
 obferved any thing of the kind in the hartbeeft, or any 
 other animal. 
 
 T 2 CHAP.
 
 I40 -^ VOYAGE TO the 
 
 C H A R XIV. 
 
 Refidence at Agter Bruntjes-Hoogte. 
 
 ^775- ' I ^HE liril place where we took up our lodging was at 
 \^r>r^ -*■ ^^ old elephant hunters, of the name of Printslo, 
 who was thefirfl that had migrated here, and at the bottom 
 :a high mountain had pitched \\^i\ the finefl fituation for 
 a farm in the whole diftricft, and, I had almoft faid, in all 
 Africa. The thermometer in the morning as well as 
 in the evening was about 60 degrees. 
 
 On the 30th the thermometer within doors was at 
 60 degrees at feven in the morning, and in the evening 
 .at 67. 
 
 The 31ft, which was New Year's Eve, and fell upon a 
 Sunday, was celebrated with a pfalm or two, and after 
 that with a game at cards. They afTured me, that the 
 winter-months of July and Auguft were colder at that place 
 than at the Cape ; fo that the fnow lay on the ground for 
 a couple of days together, about two inches deep ; but that 
 their fheep and cattle, then as well as at other times, were 
 Ikept out of doors in the open air, and in the day-time 
 were driven abroad to go in quell of their own food. 
 
 January,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 141 
 
 January, 1776. Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ where we were j^^^Ay, 
 now arrived, is rather a flat tra6t of country, which takes \^/y^^ 
 in the upper part of Kleine Fifcb-rivier, and is feparated 
 from Camdebo by Bruntjes-boogtens, or the Bruntjes-hills, 
 and with refpedt to the latter place {Camdebo) are fituated 
 agtery or behind them. The S7ueuwbergen^ which lie to 
 the north of Camdebo^ are fo called from the fnow with 
 which in the winter -time the higheil of them are faid to 
 be covered, and even to remain fo during part of the fum- 
 mer ; fo that they are, probably, of the fame nature as the 
 Rogge-veld and Bokke-veld mountains, and perhaps com- 
 pofe a part of the chain formed by them. The lower 
 Sneeuwberge7i<i or Snow-mountains, are inhabited the year 
 throughout ; but on the higher range of hills the winters are 
 fevere enough : this circumflance, is faid to make the colonifts 
 remove into the plains below in Camdebo. The inhabitants, in- 
 deed, of the more diftant iS';^^^^z«;-mountains are fometimes 
 obliged, according to report, entirely to relinquifli their 
 dwellings and habitations, on account of the favage plunder- 
 ing race of Boihies-men,of which I have made fome mention 
 above, in Vol. I. page 198; who from their hiding-places, 
 fliooting forth their poifoned arrows at the fliepherd, kill 
 him, and afterwards drive away the whole of his ilock, 
 which perhaps confifls of feveral hundred llieep, and forms 
 the chief, if not the Avhole, of the farmer's property. 
 What they cannot drive away with them they kill and 
 wound, as much as the time will allow them, while they 
 are making their retreat. It is in vain to purfue them, 
 they being very fwift of foot, and taking refuge up in the 
 fteep mountains, which they are able to run up almoft as 
 
 laimbly
 
 142 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '776. nimbly as baboons or monkies. From thence they roll 
 '<^^>^y^ down large Itones, on any one that is imprudent enough to 
 follow them. The approach of night gives them time to 
 withdraw themfelves entirely from thofe parts, by ways 
 and places with which none but themfelves are acquainted. 
 Thefe banditti colle6l together again in bodies to the amount 
 of fome hundreds, from their hiding-places and the clefts 
 in the mountains, in order to commit frefh depredations 
 and robberies. One of the colonifls, who had been obliged 
 to fly from thefe mountains, was at this time paffing to 
 Agter Bruntjes-hoogte with his family, fervants, and cattle, 
 in order to look out for a new habitation. He informed 
 us, that the BofJjies^men grew bolder every day, and feemed 
 to increafe in numbers, iince people had with greater ear- 
 neftnefs fet about extirpating them. It was this, doubt- 
 lefs, which has occafioned them to colle6t together into 
 large bodies, in order to withfland the encroachments of 
 the colonifts, who had already taken from them their befl 
 <iwelling and hunting-places. An inftance was related of. 
 the Bolliies-men having befieged a peafant with his wife 
 and children in their cottage, till at length he drove them 
 off by repeatedly firing among them. They had lately car- 
 ried off from a farmer the greater part of his cattle. Not 
 long before this, however, they had fuffered a confiderable 
 defeat in the following manner. Several farmers, who per- 
 ceived that they were not able to get at the Bofhies-men by 
 the ufual methods, fliot a fea-cow, and took only the prime 
 part of it for themfelves, leaving the reft by way of bait ; 
 they themfelves, in the mean while, lying in ambufli. 
 The Bofhies-men with their wives and children now came 
 I down
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 143 
 
 down from their hidings-places, with an intention to feail , ':^7^- 
 lumptuoufly on the fea-cow that had been iliot ; but the v.-y^rs-^ 
 farmers, who came back again very unexpectedly, turned 
 the feaft into a fcene of blood and flaughter. — Pregnant 
 women, and children in their tendereft years, were not at 
 this time, neither indeed are they ever, exempt from the 
 efFedis of the hatred and fpirit of vengeance conftantly 
 harboured by the colonifts with refpecSl to the Bofhies-nan 
 nation; excepting fuch, indeed, as are marked out to be> 
 carried away into bondage. Does a colonift at any time get 
 fight of a Bolhies-man, he takes fire immediately, and fpi- 
 rits up his horfe and dogs, in order to hunt him with more 
 ardour and fury than he would a wolf or any other wild 
 beafl. On an open plain, a few colonifts on horfeback are 
 always fure to get the better of the greatefl number of 
 Bolhies-men that can be brought together, as the former 
 always keep at the diilance of about a hundred or a hundred 
 and fifty paces, (juft as they find it convenient) and charg- 
 ing their heavy fire-arms with a very large kind of fiiot, 
 jump olf their horfes, and reft their pieces in their ufual 
 manner on their ram-rods, in order that they may fiioot 
 with the greater certainty ; fo that the balls difcharged by 
 them will fometimes, as I have been afihred, go through 
 the bodies of fix, feven, or eight of the enemy at a time, 
 efpecially as thefe latter know no better than to keep clofe 
 together in a body. It is true, that, on the other hand, 
 the Bofhies-men can fhoot their arrows to the diftance of 
 two hundred paces, but with a very uncertain aim, as the 
 arrow muft neceflarily firft make a curve in the air; and 
 fliould it even at that diftance chance to hit any of the far- 
 mers,
 
 144 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776- niers, it is not able to go through his hat, or his ordinary 
 \^^^^^ linen or coarfe woollen coat. 
 
 In the diftri6l of Sneeuzvberg the land-droji has appointed 
 one of the farmers, with the title of veld-corporal^ to com- 
 mand in thefe wars, and as occalion may require, to order 
 out the country people alternately in feparate parties, for the 
 purpofe of defending the country againft its original inhabi- 
 tants. Government, indeed, has no other part in the cruel- 
 ties exercifed by its fubje6ls, than that of taking no cogni- 
 zance of them ; but in this point it has been certainly too 
 remifs, in leaving a whole nation to the mercy of every in- 
 dividual peafant, or in fa6l, of every one that chufes to in- 
 vade their land ; as of fuch people one might naturally ex- 
 pedl:, that interefled views, and an unbridled fpirit of re- 
 venge, lliould prevail over the di<5lates of prudence and 
 humanity. I am far from accufing all the colonifls of hav- 
 ing a hand in thefe and other cruelties, which are too fre- 
 quently committed in this quarter of the globe. While 
 fome of them plumed themfelves upon them, there were 
 many who, on the contrary, held them in abomination, 
 and feared left the vengeance of heaven Ihould, for all 
 thefe crimes, fall upon their land and their pofterity. 
 
 It is true, that no endeavours have as yet been made to 
 polifli the BoJJjies-man natives, and make them better men, 
 and more ufeful to the colonifts ; but if we may form any 
 judgment from the difpolition of thofe who have been 
 hired into the colonifts fervice, or have been made flaves of, 
 and have not run away, this feems not impoflible to be 
 eftedted. Yet, perhaps, the fentiments that are commonly 
 entertained to their difadvantage, as well as the crvielties 
 
 which
 
 C A P E OF G O O D HO P E. 145 
 
 which have been hitherto pradired iii:>on them, cannot but lay , ' 776- 
 
 ■^ ^ • January. 
 
 many impediments in the way of an attempt of this nature. V^-vx^" 
 If what I have been aiTured by many be true, the Hottentots, 
 who originally relided at Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ lived peace- 
 ably with the Chrirtians who firft migrated thither. They 
 ufed likewife to i^erform the kindefh offices for the latter, 
 and would frequently go unafked in fearch of a ftray lamb, 
 or the like, belonging to the Chriflians, and take it home 
 to them ; but at length they had withdrawn themfelves, 
 and now live concealed in holes and corners up and down 
 this part of the country like other Bofliies-men. Yet, be- 
 ing fewer in number, they are not altogether fo bold and 
 daring. Their complexions being rather of a yellow call, 
 they are confidered as of a different nation, and have con- 
 fequently been called Cbinefe- or -5';?^/^-Hottentots. The 
 chief abode of thefe fugitives is on each iide of the two 
 Vifch-riviers, Many of them that I faw had been good 
 ferviceable flaves. While we, like them, were fir oiling up 
 and down between the two Vifch rivers, we came occaiion- 
 ally to the very fpots, where the traces of their extin- 
 guiflied fires were plainly to be feen, with other marks 
 of their having been encamped there : and it would not, 
 in my opinion, have been difficult for them to have 
 harraffed us and done us much mifchief ; but whether it 
 was their flupidity, the mildnefs of their dilpofitions, or 
 their fears that withheld them I know not, but they cer- 
 tainly did not do it. If, indeed, the mildnefs of their dif- 
 pofitions alone influenced them in this matter, their con- 
 duit is by no means juitifiable ; for viewing it in this light, 
 onemay judly fay, that they commit a crime againltthem- 
 VoL. II. U felves,
 
 146 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776- felves, in leaving- the colonifls at peace, to purfue them and 
 
 January. r 1 1 • ■, • /^ 
 
 <.^y\^ make ilaves or them at their own leilure. 
 
 Another and more conliderable part of this yellow-fkinned 
 nation, is difperfed over a tra6t of country eleven days jour- 
 ney in breadth, and fituated more to the north than to the 
 north-eait of the Fifcb-riviers^ near a river called Zomo, where 
 dome of them are faid to be occupied in the grazing and 
 rearing of cattle. Small parties of Chriftians have, indeed, 
 travelled through this country, and fhot elephants there 
 immolefted ; yet they have thought it neceffary for their 
 greater fecurity, to fnut themfelves up at night in their 
 waggons, as in a caftle. 
 
 The more conliderable rivers which run through the 
 country of the Snefe-Hottentots, are faid to be only the fol- 
 lowing. fKamfi-fkay^ fNu-fkay^ Little Zomo^ Great Zomoy 
 at which latter another country belonging to a different na- 
 tion commences. Thefe rivers are reported to flow from 
 north to fouth and fouth-eaft, down towards the fea, whi- 
 ther they probably run all together through the country call- 
 ed Caffer-land, From fKau-fkay^ or the great fifh river, to 
 fKamft-fkay^ or the white river, they reckon feven days 
 journey ; every day's journey being reckoned at above forty- 
 five miles, or eight hours brifk driving of oxen without flop- 
 ping. From thence to fNti-fkay, or the black river, it is 
 reckoned one day's journey. From hence to Little ZomOy 
 or the little Watery- eyed river, it is two days journey ; and 
 from this to Great Zomo, or the great JVatery-eye^ it is half 
 a day. In this river, which is one of the largefl, 
 there is faid to be a great number of green ftones, fome of 
 which the perfon who gave me this information, carried 
 
 with
 
 CAPE OF G O O D H O P E. 147 
 
 with him to. the Gape, and fold them, to a dealer there, -'776. 
 who fold them again, xind ("nade prefents of them to travel- \^yy^>J 
 lers. They were, in all probability, of very little value. 
 
 On the other fide of Zo;;^a dwells another nation, who, 
 by the Snefe- Hottentots, are called Taml^u^is, :;M\d are faid 
 by them to refemble themfelves in complexion and drefs, 
 but to be a powerful and warlike people. Adjoining to 
 this nation, towards the north, there is, according to them, 
 a ftill more warlike and intrepid. people,, whom they call 
 Majnbukis. Such colonifts as have vifited Zcmo-river, 
 have obferved, about two days journey to the northward 
 of it, a mountain that threw out a great quantity of fmoke. 
 The Snefe-Hottentots informed me, that the Tambukis had 
 furnaces there for the purpofe of fmelting a fpecies of me- 
 tal, which they forge. and make into ornaments of various 
 kinds, hiring the Sncfe-Hottentots to carry in the wood 
 which they ufe in.thefe fmeltings. I have frequently {q,q\\ 
 the Snefe-Hottentots at Brunt] es-boogte with ear-rings of this 
 metal, and of the form exhibited in Plate I. Vol. I. fig. 8 
 and 9. In external appearance they refemble piflole gold ; 
 but from the affay made on one of thefe rings by M. Von 
 Engstroem, counfellor of the mines, they appear to be 
 merely a mixture of copper and filver. 
 
 That fingular animal, the unicorn^ which is ufually re- 
 prefented like a horfe with a horn in its forehead, has been 
 found delineated by the Snefe-Hottentots on the plain fur- 
 face of a rock fomewhere in that country, though in as 
 an uncouth and artlefs a 11 vie, as mioht naturally be ex- 
 pedled from fo rude and unpoliflicd a people. Jacob Kok, 
 that great traveller and attentive obfervcr of nature, whom 
 
 U 2 I have
 
 x^g A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. I have had occafion to mention before at page 351, Vol. I. 
 ^C^^ is my only informed on this lubje6t. The Snefe-Hotten- 
 tots told him, that by this fketch they meant to reprefent 
 an animal, which, in point of refemblance, came nearefl 
 to the horfes on which he and his train rode, but which 
 at the fame time had a horn in its forehead. To this 
 they added, that thefe creatures were rare, extremely fwift 
 of foot, furious and dangerous ; fo that, when they went 
 out after them they did not dare to attack them at clofe 
 quarters, nor appear before them on the open plains, but 
 were obliged to clamber up fome high clift or rock, and 
 there make a clattering noife; by which means they knew 
 that the beaft, being of a curious dif]^x)fition, would be en- 
 ticed towards the fpot, when they might, withoilt danger, 
 deftroy it by means of their poifoned arrows. It fliould 
 feem^ that a rude and barbarous people like the Chinefe- 
 Hottentots, could not eafily invent, and, by the mere force 
 of imagination, reprefent to themfelves fuch beings, and 
 at the fame time fo circumstantially relate the manner in 
 which they hunted them. Still lefs credible is it, that thefe 
 lavages fliould have been able to preferve any remembrance 
 of the records and traditions of former times concerning 
 this animal. Neither is it any wonder, that a fketch of the 
 unicorn Ihould be feen here only at one place. For, gene- 
 rally fpeaking, a man fees little or nothing in pafling 
 through this country, which is only refer ted to for the 
 purpofe of hunting elephants. Now I have happened to 
 touch upon the fubje6t of the elephant, it is worth while 
 to remark, that even this, the largeft of all animals on the 
 face of the globe, which is fo common and fo much fought 
 
 after
 
 C A PE OF G O O D H O P E. 149 
 
 after in Africa, and fo frequently tamed, and at the fame j^J^^;^^ 
 time fo much ufed, and confequently fo well known in v^-^v-^y 
 Afia, has been hitherto, as it were, unknown, and the 
 fubjedl of much difpute with refpe6t to an eflential point, 
 I mean the manner of its copulation, as I have related above 
 at page 326, Vol. I. It is therefore not fo much to be 
 wondered at, that we fliould know nothing of an animal 
 lefs in bulk, and much lefs common. And though I fliould 
 objecSt to the teftimony given me by my informer, as well 
 as to that of the Ghinefe-Hottentots, in regard to the uni- 
 corn, yet the exiftence of it fhould not on that account be 
 looked upon as a fable, notwithftanding it is not known to 
 thefe more modern times. 
 
 It is but a few years fince the cainelopardaUs^ the talleft of 
 all quadrupeds, when meafured at the fore part, has been 
 made frefh mention of by naturalifts ; this too has been the 
 cafe with the gnu, A reprefentation of this remarkable ani- 
 mal, the camelopardalis^ feems like wife to have been given us 
 by the antients ; but who, till thefe our times, ever confidered 
 it in any other light than that of a fidlion, a monfter, or, at 
 leail, a monftrous medley, exifling only in the imagination ? 
 When we coniider, moreover, that the hippopotamus >, which 
 in all probability is a larger animal, though fomewhat lowxr 
 than the elephant, has been hitherto very little known ; as 
 likewife that, till the prefent moment, wx have been almoft 
 utter ftrangers even to the rhinoceros bicornis^ may we not ex- 
 pe6t that there will be a time, when the unicorn and all other 
 beafts and infe^ls, animated by the Creator of all things, but 
 unknown to us at prefent, will be brought out of their holes 
 and hiding-places into the light ? The following extrad of 
 
 * a let-
 
 I50 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 January. 
 
 1776. a letter from M. Pallas, dated the 14th of December, 
 
 1778, which, on account of the good fenfe and mftruc- 
 
 tion with w^hich it is replete, I fliall take the liberty of in- 
 
 ferting in this place, will ferve to confirm us in the idea, 
 
 that the unicorn is a real, and not an imaginary animal. 
 
 " Quod monocerotem in interioribus Africae partibus eti- 
 amnum latere fufpicionem moves, id quidem mihi haud in- 
 expedtatum ; certoque jamdudum perfuafufus fum, non 
 ex nihilo apud veteres ill am fuifTe famam ; fed vel cafu 
 ■unicornes antilopas, de quibus in XII. Fafciculo Spicilegi- 
 orum dixi, anfam dediife, vel peculiarem forte fpeciem 
 unicornem, nobis hucufque ignotam, antiquitus innotuifle, 
 quando interiora Africx itineratoribus Europoeis erant fre- 
 quentiora. Si non incidifti forfan in locum relationis Lu- 
 dovici Barthema, ubi Monocerotes duos Meccae ad templum, 
 in theriotrophaeo vifos, defcribit ; vide illam, quaefo, in 
 Vol. I. colledlion. Ramufii, p. 151. Nefcio quid hominem 
 excitare potuiiTet ad fingenda, quae ibi ret ulit, quaeque non 
 ita male cohserent. 
 
 I have not as yet been able to procure a fight of the 
 ColleSilones Ramufti referred to by M. Pallas '"='. — With re- 
 
 fjoedl: 
 
 * The paiTage in Varthema here referred to is as follows : 
 
 ** Da un altra banda del diclo tempio e una murata, nella quale fta dentro dui unicorni 
 vivi U li fe monftrano per cofa grandiflima come e ccrto. Li quail diro come fono fadi. 
 El maggior fadlo como un polTedro di trenta mefi hi ha uno corno nella fronte, el quale 
 corno fie circa trebracciadi longheza. L'altro unicornofie come ferioun polledro de uno 
 anno, & ha un corno longo circa quatro palmi. El colore del diclo animale fie come un 
 cavallo faginato fcuro : hi. ha la tcfta come un cervo h ha el collo non molto longo con 
 elfchuna crina rara & curta che pendeno ad una banda : h ha la gamba fottile & afciuta 
 come un capriolo : el pede fuo e un poco fefFo davanti & longia e caprina : & ha certi pell 
 dalla. banda di dietro veramenti qucfta moftra de eifere un ferocifTima^: defeito animale. 
 Et quefti dui animali furono prefentati alio Soldano dcUa Mecha, per la pui bella cola 
 ch' hoggi fe trovi al modi & per piu ricco theforo liquali furono mandati da uno Re de 
 
 Ethiopia: 
 
 I
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 151 
 
 {vedi to other particulars, I have been informed by the co- ^ ^776- 
 
 r J. ■^ ^ January. 
 
 lonifts at u^gUr Bruntjes Hoogte^ that the tradl of country v.^^'vo 
 lying between them and Zomoj or the T^ambukis^ confifted 
 in a great meafure of very extenfive and barren plains ; 
 that the farther they went to the north, the lefs they knew 
 of the vegetables produced by it ; that there grew in thefe 
 parts a kind of blood-tree, Sec. that if one travelled from 
 the upper part of Vifcb-rivier more to the fouth-eaft, or the 
 Caffre fide of the country, one would come to a river called 
 Konap^ which was fuppofed to run into Vifch-rivier\ but two 
 days journey farther on, going from Kojiap'fxwtx towards 
 the north- eaft, there was a river, called Kaifi-kammay 
 which derived its fource from a mountain known to the 
 
 Ethiopia : zoe da un Re Moro, el quale li fece quefto prefente per fare parentato con el 
 diao Soldanode la Mecha." 
 
 " On the other fide of the temple there is a court-yard encompaffed with high 
 walls, where we faw two unicorns, which were ftiewn as great rarities, and indeed arc 
 fit fubjeets for admiration. The form of them is as follows. The larger one refem- 
 bles a foal of two years and a half old, and has a horn in its forehead about three cubits 
 in length. The other unicorn was lefs, being nearly as big as a foal of a year old, 
 and had a horn about four palms long. The colour of this animal is that of a dark 
 dun horfe ; its head is like that of a ftag, its neck of a moderate length, furnifhed with 
 fome thinly fcattered fliort hairs that hang down on one fide : its legs are long and flen- 
 der like thofe of a roe; the feet are fomewhat cloven in the fore part, and the hoofs are 
 like thofe of a goat. It has on the back part of its legs a great quantity of hair, a cir- 
 cumflance which gives this animal a fierce appearance; though, in facl, the beaft is 
 tame and gentle in Its nature. Both the animals were prefenred to the Sultan of Mec- 
 ca as very great rarities, and which are to be found in very few parts of the globe, by 
 an Ethiopian King, who fought for the Sultan'* friendfhip. 
 
 The preceding pallage is extra£ted from the original, in the library of the Prefident 
 of the Royal Society. The book itfelf, the title of which is as follows, Itinerario de 
 Lndovico de Varthema^ Bolognefe^ ne lo Egypto, ne lo Suria^ fte la Jrabia^ &c. [Veficziay 
 1 51 7, 8vo.) is extremely fcarce, and does not appear to have been feen either by 
 M. Pallas, Dr. Sparrman, or his German commentator Mr. Forster. 
 The tranflation of this paflage is made from Ramusio, who has modernized this au- 
 thor, or rather re-tranflated him from a Latin verfion, which is itfelf a tranflation only 
 from the Spanilh ; fo that the Italian original muft have been loft for fome time. 
 
 colonifts
 
 15^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 "^11^- colonics by the name of the Bajnbus-berg^ or Bamboo- 
 C^vO mountain, from the circiimftance of a fort of reeds or bam- 
 boos growing upon it, which were very much prized by 
 them for the purpofe of making handles for their long 
 whips. 
 
 Groote-rivier^ or Great river, is faid to be the largefl ri- 
 ver in Africa, and to be no otherwife known than from 
 the accounts of the Hottentots. It is reported to contain a 
 great number of fea-cows or river-horfes, which were very 
 bold and daring ; fo that it cannot, without danger, be na- 
 vigated for the purpofe of farther exploring the country. 
 It is fuppofed to lie diredlly to the northward, at the dif- 
 tance of eight or ten days journey from the Sneeuw-bergen. 
 It was faid to rife in the eafl, and run llrait on towards the 
 north. It is probable that this river foon after turns off to 
 the weft and the fouth, and is the fame Groote-rivier which 
 I have inferted in my map, on the authority of M. Henry 
 Hop's Journal of an Expedition made to the DiJlriSi of Ana- 
 maquas^ publifhed in a compilation called Nouvelle Defcrip- 
 tio7i du Cap de bonne Efperance^ which I quoted above. This 
 river, however, muft not be confounded with another of 
 the fame name, which empties itfelf at the eaflern fliore 
 of Africa and the CafFre coaft. 
 
 The country of the GafFres lies to the eait of Great 
 Vifcb-rivier, next the coaft. Its inhabitants, the GafFres, 
 have no notion of the breeding of flieep, employing them- 
 felves only in rearing horned cattle, and, like the Gonaquas 
 Hottentots, wearing cow-hides, which are well rubbed and 
 dreffed with greafe, till they become foft and pliable. Their 
 houfes, or huts, are faid to be fmall and fquare, compofed 
 
 3 of
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 1-3 
 
 of rods, and covered with day and cow-dung, which gives ^ti^- 
 them the appearance of fmall ftone houfes. \JiiJ^ 
 
 The weapons of the CafFres are merely fliields made of 
 fole-leather, and haffagais, or that kind of javehn confilt- 
 ing of a {lender and hght wooden fliaft, headed with a 
 broad and rather heavy iron plate, v/hich I have delineated 
 in Plate II. Vol. I. fig. i and 2, and have mentioned at 
 page 9 of this volume, as being made ufe of by the Gona- 
 quas Hottentots. 
 
 The nation is governed by many different chiefs, who 
 probably have all the property of their fubjecSts vefted in 
 themfelves, and at the fame time have an abfolute unlimit- 
 ed authority over them. As far as I could underfland, 
 their ftate and power are hereditary. It is faid that they 
 are frequently at w^ar with each other, and that they al- 
 ways kill the prifoners they have taken. But if a chief 
 fliould chance to fall into the enemy's hands, he is not put 
 to death, but is fent back again with admonitions to be- 
 have himfelf more peaceably for the future. The occa- 
 fion of their wars is generally the fame as in other parts of 
 the globe, viz. either a want of the common fentiments 
 of humanity in one of the contending powers, or their ar- 
 rogant and rapacious difpofition, or elle fome bone of con- 
 tention which they cannot on either fide perfuade them- 
 felves to give up, without fiiedding their own blood and 
 that of their fellow- creatures. It is even faid, that a flolen 
 or ftray calf, or one grazing upon territories of a neigh- 
 bouring country, and other matters equally trifling, will 
 fometimes be fufficient to fet two or more nations together 
 by the ears. Neither of the parties, however, carries their 
 
 Vol. II. X revenge
 
 154 ^ VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776. revenire fo far as to extirpate the other, but is fatisfied when 
 
 January. «--' . ■*■ 
 
 ^>^-s«^ the adverfary yields the day and fues for peace. 
 
 The Dutch colonifls have, by means of the following 
 incident, of which I do not remember exa6lly the year, 
 infpired the Galfre nation with no fmall degree of terror. 
 A man of the name of Heuppenaer, made an expedition, 
 at the head of a fmall party of farmers, into the CafFre 
 country, in order to flioot elephants. The CafFres, who 
 took a fancy to the iron- work of their waggons, and fome 
 other articles they had with them, came in a body, coniifl- 
 ing of feveral hundred men, and threw on a fudden fuch 
 a number of darts among the colonifls, that the major part 
 of them were killed ; a dart likewife pierced through the 
 tilt of a w^aggon and killed Heuppenaer, who was fitting 
 in it. The blame of this was in a great meafure thrown 
 upon Heuppenaer, who was too high-fpirited to fhew any 
 fear, and, agreeably to the advice of his companions, take 
 to his weapons in time. One of them, who was faid Hill 
 to be living in the colony, had efcaped, though half drown- 
 ed, by hiding himfelf for the fpace of twenty-four hours 
 under a large water-fall. Two others found an opportu- 
 nity of riding away, and afterwards harraffing the CafFres a 
 long time on the plain, by jumping, whenever they came 
 near a party of thefe favages, off their horfes at intervals, 
 in order to take a better aim, by which means they killed 
 feveral at one fhot. This fracas, and the manner in which 
 it was revenged, have taught the CafFres ever fince, to lay a 
 greater reftraint on their delires for the iron-work of the 
 colonifls waggons. 
 
 In
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 155 
 
 In Lame-kloof I met with a farmer who was jufl come , ^n^- 
 
 •^ -' *' ^ January. 
 
 back alone from this country, and had brought with him \,^y\j 
 I feveral elephants teeth. In return for fome tobacco with 
 which he had prefented a Caffre prince, this latter had or- 
 dered his fubjeds to fhew him the places w^here the ele- 
 phants were to be found. 
 
 In my map I have called a tract of country fituated to-- 
 wards the mouth of Groote Fifcb-rivier, by the name of 
 King Ruytefs Craal^ in commemoration of a Hottentot 
 king, or, as he was ftyled by the colonifts, a Hottentot cap- 
 tain, called RuYTER. I have met with feveral Chriftians 
 who had paid a vifit to this remarkable man, and related 
 to me his life and adventures, which in brief are as fol- 
 lows. While he was in fervice at a farmer's at Rogge-veld^ 
 he happened to have a quarrel wath another Hottentot his 
 companion, and murdered him ; and as he was apprehen- 
 five of being, agreeably to the law^s of the colony, hanged 
 for this adlion, he ran away. After a variety of adven- 
 tures, he arrived at length in that part of the country which 
 lies near BoJhies-marC s-rivier<i w^here by his intrepidity, he 
 raifed himfelf to be the chief of a party of Bofliies-men, 
 or Hottentot rangers. At the head of thefe he fubdued 
 feveral other tribes, and afterwards had the art to make 
 them take arms againft the Caffres, by exciting in them a 
 miftruft of each other ; and at the fame time infpiring 
 them with a high opinion of himfelf, as being of fo great 
 importance to them in the capacity of their chief or leader, 
 that they could not poffibly do without him ; efpecially as 
 he fupplied them with plunder, and taught them a method 
 
 X 2 <?f
 
 156 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ,"^11^- of rearing their cattle, better in both cafes than ever they 
 
 January. ^ 
 
 K^-r^ had been accu Homed to. 
 
 While by fuch condudl he rendered himfelf highly 
 formidable to the CafFres, he took care, by infli6ling the 
 punifliment of death on his fubjedls for the leafl fault, or 
 even on the lead fnfpicion of a fault, to exa6t (and for a 
 long time to enjoy) the moll fervile fubmiflion and implicit 
 obedience from the iimple uncultivated mortals he had col- 
 le6ted together in order to tyrannize over. He ufed fre- 
 quently with ,his own hand to put to death one or more of 
 thefe flavifh valTals, and would immediately throw his jave- 
 lin through the body of any of his attendants, that hefi- 
 tated at his nod to difpatch the man whom he had marked 
 out as the victim of his revengeful and cruel difpofition. 
 
 Exclufively of the didtates of a falfe and ill-judged po- 
 licy, perhaps the natural turn of the tyrant's mind induced 
 him to be guilty of thefe cruelties ; but when the Ghriftians 
 reproached him with the barbarity and blood- thirftinefs of 
 his difpoiition, he replied, " It was in a lucky hour that 
 I conveyed myfelf out of the reach of your authority. You 
 would have hanged me for having killed my antagonift as 
 if I had committed a crime, when at the fame time, to kill 
 an enemy is reckoned a laudable and manly adlion." To 
 the colonifls he always behaved as a true and faithful ally ; 
 and in return for the tobacco and other articles they pre- 
 fented him with, ufed to help them to make flaves of fuch 
 flragghng Bofhies-men as did not live imder his jurifdicr- 
 tion. By keeping the CafFres at a proper diftance, he not 
 only fervedhis own turn, bjit was like wife extremely iife- 
 
 ful
 
 CAPE OF GOOD, HOPE. 157 
 
 ful to the colonifts. But however cautious he was to main- j^JJ^' 
 tain peace with his more powerful neighbours the Chrif- ^y^rsJ 
 tians, yet it is faid, that when he was in the meridian of 
 life, and at the zenith of his power, he received them with 
 an uncommon degree of pride and arrogance ; which, as 
 my informer exprefled himfelf, they could not ealily digeft 
 from a vagabond Jheep-pin prince. He fucceeded, how- 
 ever, in keeping up his importance with them as well as 
 with his own people. At prefent, old and infirm, and 
 barely diredlor of a more inconfiderable and freer fociety, 
 conlifting of about two hundred people, he is wont to re- 
 ceive his old Chriflian acquaintance in the moft friendly 
 manner, and. With tears in his eyes, to afk for tobacco, 
 no longer by way of tribute, but as a prefent, which he 
 is willing to receive from their bounty. 
 
 The defpotic and tyrannical condudt by which this chief 
 made himfelf fo famous, and for fome time fo powerful 
 and fo much feared, is probably the occafion of his being 
 reduced to the low ftate in which he is at prefent ; and it is 
 imagined, will bring him to a flill more abjedl and lower 
 condition. This great man may, perhaps, at laft come to 
 the miferable fituation of the lion in the fable. Another 
 caufe of liis prefent degradation is as follows. His fub- 
 jedts, weary of the ambition and fever e difcipline of their 
 chief, took- the opportunity of defe rting him, at the time 
 when he was- gallantly marching at the head of them againft ' 
 the Gaffresi Being no longer lb fv/ift of foot as he was in 
 his youth, he was: not able to make his efcape, and was 
 confequently taken prifoner; but being recognized as a 
 chief, his life, according to the cufem I have before men- 
 tioned,
 
 1^8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776. tioned, as being eftablifhed among the Caffres, was fpared, 
 L^-O ^'^d he was fent back to his people ; yet not without me- 
 naces of having his eyes put out, if ever he fhould rife 
 againfh them in arms in future. This misfortune, and the 
 falutary leiTon given him by his enemies, were not efficacious, 
 however, as foon as he had again colle6ted together a num- 
 ber of his people, to divert his hoftile intentions againft the 
 Caffres. It was faid, that he had lately endeavoured to 
 fpirit up another petty Bofhies man chief againft them, and 
 had received from him promifes of afliftance, as foon as he 
 could get iron to head his arrows with, and make the other 
 neceffary preparations. They were apprehenlive, and not 
 - without reafon, that the old tyrant in this intended expe- 
 dition of his would meet with that death, which, tired of 
 himfelf and his adverfe fortune, he feemed to be in fearch 
 of. He had, according to a cuftom prevalent among the 
 Hottentots, appointed the youngeft of his three fons to be 
 heir to his poffeflions and throne. Neither of the three, 
 however, was fuppofed to inherit the father's talents and 
 abilities in a fufficient degree, to be able to eftablifh himfelf 
 on the throne. 
 
 The refpe<5live methods of fighting of the Caffres and 
 Hottentots are very different. The Caffres, as we have 
 mentioned above, make ufe of darts, which they cannot 
 employ with any effe6l at a greater diftance than twenty 
 or thirty paces. Of thefe darts they do not carry with 
 them into the field more than three or four ; fo that they 
 are foon difarmed, in cafe their antagonifts are bold and 
 nimble enough to pick up thefe weapons as foon as the 
 Caffres have thrown them out of their hands. The Caffres, 
 
 moreover,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 159 
 
 moreover, iife a fliield made of flioe-fole leather, and laree ^ii^- 
 
 January. 
 
 enough to cover the whole of their bodies completely, on v^vO 
 their fhrinking themfelves up into a rather fmaller compafs. 
 I have feen a baflard CafFre go through his exercife with thefe 
 weapons ; from whence I conclude, that when they are in 
 adlual engagement, they fliift their bodies continually from 
 one lide to the other, fo that they cannot eafily be hit, 
 taking care all this time to keep their bajjagais or darts in 
 readinefs, to throw at the unguarded part of their antago- 
 nifts. The Bofhies-men, on the other hand, who are with- 
 out any fliields, are more than- a match for the CafFres, as 
 long as they can keep them at a good diftance from them 
 by means of their bows and poifoned arrows, which, though 
 they do not immediately make fo painful a wound, as the 
 hajjagais of the CafFres, are yet more dangerous in the 
 end. 
 
 It was in confequence of this circumftance, that Ruy- 
 ter's Bofhies-men beat the CafFres for fo long a time. It 
 has therefore been a matter of wonder, that the CafFres have 
 not learned the ufe of the bow and arrow, in like manner as 
 their enemies the Bolhies-men. This manner of fighting 
 does not feem to require great courage, nor indeed does it 
 appear calculated to give either nation a difpolition to it. 
 
 If I may be allowed to judge from two inftances, the 
 flaves of the Chriflians are of a much more warlike turn. 
 Thefe, confequently, when; they elope from their mailers' 
 fervice, are fure to be well received and prote6led by the 
 CafFres. At leafl, a CafFre prince, notwithflanding that he 
 had a handfome confideration offered him, had juft before 
 our arrival in thefe parts, refufed to deliver up two flaves 
 5 belonging
 
 i6o A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^n^- belonging to the Chriftians ; alledging, by way of giving a 
 ^.^rvO reafon for his refufal, that they were his befl warriors. 
 
 Before I proceed, agreeably to the order of my journal, to 
 fpeak of Agter Bruntjes-boogte, where I lived for fome time, 
 I muft juft mention the following particulars relative to a 
 province immediately bordering upon it. 
 
 Cajndebo is an arid, flat, Carrow-like tradl of country, in- 
 habited by Chriftians, who are chiefly employed in rearing 
 cattle. This diftri6l is faid to extend as far as the fouth 
 fide of the Sneeuw mountains. From the information and 
 accounts that were given me, I have laid down in my map 
 two different roads, by which people may go to the Cape 
 through CamdebOy both from Agter Bruntjes-boogte and from 
 the Sneeuwbergen, The north road is faid to go to An- 
 tbon- veld, Kau-veld, and Bokke-veld. The fouthern way 
 goes downwards to Oliphanf s-rivier, and fo along that to 
 the high road, by which I went myfelf, and which I have 
 laid down in my map. You may likewife turn out of this 
 fouthern road before, and go by Platte-kloofy Hex-rivier, 
 and fo on to the Cape. The inhabitants of Camdebo and 
 Sneeuzvberg have likewife, it is faid, found out a by-road, 
 though rough and intricate, down by the fide of Zondags- 
 rivier to ZwartkopS'7'ivier, in order to provide themfelves 
 with fait at the falt-pits defcribed above. 
 
 Thefe two roads through Camdebo, See. are, it is true, 
 the nearefl from Bruntjes-boogte to the Cape ; and in fadt, 
 the only road that people take. But the tra6ls of country 
 throvTgh which they are carried, are faid to be but little in- 
 habited, very arid, and deficient in refpedt to pafturage, 
 and Hill more fo in the article of water; particularly that 
 
 year,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. i6i 
 
 year, which was fuppoled to be the driefl in the memory of 
 man, fo that fome particular watering-places were entire- 
 ly dried up. I was told of a traveller, the greater part of 
 whofe oxen had, on occafion of this circumftance, fainted 
 and died upon the road. Gonfequently, our beafts, which 
 were too few in number to be able to relieve each other 
 much, by this time wearied out, and not ufed to put up 
 with the dry buflies of the C arrow country, were 
 the more likely to perifli, had we not, on the fcore of 
 thefe confiderations, fuffered ourfelves to be entirely dif- 
 fuaded from travelling by thefe roads. I was like wife 
 obliged to give up all thoughts of vifiting Sneeuwberg and 
 CamdebO', on account of the diforder among the horfes, 
 which was faid at this time to be very rife, and had already 
 reached almoft as far as to Agter Bruntjes-boogte, hi this 
 place, moreover, there were many birds, infects, and ani- 
 mals which I had not i^ow in other parts, and which gave 
 me fufficient employment. Befides, my prefent hoft, who 
 wdflied to keep me with him for the fake of two people 
 w^ho v/ere Hck in his houfe, was extremely civil to me, and 
 aflifted me greatly in my refearches ; and, together with one 
 of his fons and his Ibn-in-law, accompanied me afterwards 
 on a hunting-party down Vifcb-rivier-i which lafled for a 
 fortnight, and of which I fhall give an account hereafter. 
 
 Having fo many fubjed:s to employ myfelf upon, I was 
 almoft tempted to remain here during the winter, in order 
 to make a trip the following fpring to the Tambuki mines^ 
 and at the fame to go in queft of the unicorn, hi fa^l, 
 both Mr. Immelman and myfelf endeavoured to i:>erliiade 
 
 Vo L. Hi Y feveral
 
 1 62 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 1776. feveral farmers to equip themfelves for this undertakino;. 
 
 January. ^ ^ 
 
 v.<*^r*^ This fcheme they had no great objedlioii to, but could not 
 give me a poiitive anfwer on the fubje6l; and indeed, af- 
 ter a more mature confideration of the matter I found, that 
 I had neither money nor gunpowder fufficient for the pur- 
 pofe, not to mention many other good reafons which pre- 
 vented me from putting it into execution. I was therefore 
 obUged, though fore againfl my will, to give up all thoughts 
 of this excurfion ; though afterwards I was not very forry 
 at having met with the dif appointment, being pretty well 
 convinced, that another year's fatigue would not have con- 
 tributed much more to my future happihefs. 
 
 In the mean while, after an abfence of five years fpent 
 in travels and voyages to various parts of the globe, I ima- 
 gine it will fcarcely be neceffary to make any excufe for 
 turning my thoughts likewife towards home. Happy if 
 my humble endeavours Ihould excite other naturalifts to 
 purfue the fame path with greater fuccefs, and make us ac- 
 quainted with the remaining curious and remarkable ob- 
 jects, which are doubtlefs Itill to be found in the fouthern 
 parts of Africa. 
 
 Confequently, Agter Bruntjes^hoogte is the northemmoft 
 part that I vilited of the whole colony ; and, in my opinion, 
 it is likewife the mofb pleafant. There was Hill remain- 
 ing on the ground, a more meadow-like verdure than is 
 ufually feen in this country; a verdure that owed its exiflr- 
 ence to the fhelter that was afforded to the foil by the thorny 
 branches of the mimofa nilottca^ and was ftill further en- 
 livened by the numerous yellow bloffoms of that plant. 
 The great quantity of beautiful vernal lilies, together with a 
 
 peculiar
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 163 
 
 peculiar parafitic plant of a blood-red hue, (defcribed by ^n^- 
 me in the Swediili Tranfacft. for 1776, page 307) which V^yO 
 were now fpringing out of their beds covered with a more 
 verdant and luxuriant herbage than the other parts of this 
 country, mufl doubtlefs in the feafon for their bloom- 
 ing, add ftill more to the fplendour of this delightful fcene. 
 This, however, was not a little augmented by a purling 
 ftream, viz. Little Fifcb-rivier, which winds through this 
 fpot in fportive meanders. On its banks, belides corn- 
 fields, were feen fcattered up and down orchards and kit- 
 chen-gardens recently laid out, and fome of them cut 
 through with drains. Plantations, which though as yet 
 inconfiderable, feemed, however, to promife every thing 
 to time and induflry. The houfes, far from intimidating 
 the traveller by their fplendid appearance, with the con- 
 ftrained pomp of antichambers and drawing-rooms, were 
 rather in the ftyle of plain and fimple cottages; but, on 
 the other hand, were environed with the animated embel- 
 lifliments of flieep and cattle, and inhabited by people in 
 eafy circumftances ; who, not with interelled views, but with 
 open arms received me and my companion, juft arrived 
 from the dreary and inhofpitable defert, and charmed us 
 with their kind and friendly behaviour. 
 
 The fuperior degree of fertility, and the more delight- 
 fvil verdure which I found here, ought, perhaps, to be af- 
 cribed to a ridge of mountains on the eaft fide of Little 
 Fifch-rivier^ which was interfedled by beautiful green vales 
 interfperfed with woods. Thefe mountains, by collecting the 
 clouds together, caufed them to fall in refrefiiing ftiowers of 
 rain on the banks of the river that ran at their feet: and 
 
 Y 2 the
 
 164 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. the fuperior degree of fertility occafioned by thefe circnm- 
 
 {^]i!l!jj fiances, invited not only the antilopes and other animals of 
 
 the chafe to this fide of the country, but likewife induced 
 
 various kinds of beautiful birds to refort to it, and build their 
 
 nefts in the trees that grew on the banks of the river. 
 
 What contributes not a little to this fertility is, that the 
 land is frefh, that is to fay, not yet worn out by being too 
 frequently and too clofely grazed off by the numerous 
 flocks and herds of the Chriftians, vide Vol. p. 2 5 1 , 252. 
 
 All the colonills who follow the grazing bufinefs, and 
 particularly thofe at Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ lead an eafy and 
 pleafant life. One of thefe boors ufually puts to his plough 
 eight or ten of his fat, or rather pampered oxen; and it is 
 hardly to be conceived, with what little trouble he gets into 
 order a field of a moderate fize; and in confequence of 
 his feeding fo great a number of cattle, how eafily he can 
 render it in the highefl degree fertile. So that, always fure 
 of a rich harvefh from a foil not yet worn out, and ever 
 grateful to the culture beflowed upon it, he may be almofl 
 faid merely to amufe himfelf with the cultivation of it, for 
 the bread he wants for himfelf and his family ; while many 
 other hufbandmen mufl fweat and toil thertifelves almofl 
 to death, both for what they ufe themfelves, and for that 
 which is confumed by others, who frequently live in eafe 
 and indolence. By his extenfive paflures, and by throwing 
 a fufficient quantity of land into tillage, he rears a confider- 
 able number of horfes, which frequently are ufed only a few 
 days in a year, for the purpofe of treading out and threfh- 
 ing his corn. With pleafure, but without the leafl trouble 
 to himfelf, he fees the herds andflocksj which conflitute his 
 
 riches,.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 165 
 
 riches, daily and conliderably iiicreafing. Thefe are driven ^776. 
 to paflure and home again by a few Hottentots or flaves, v.xv^Ii 
 who hkewife make the butter ; fo that it is ahiioft only 
 with the milking, that the farmer, together with his wife 
 and children, concern themfelves at all. To do this bufinefs, 
 however, he has no occalion to rife before feven or eight 
 o'clock in the morning ; and notwithflanding his having 
 enjoyed his bed fo long in the morning, he can afford, 
 "without neglecting any thing of confequence^ to allow him- 
 felf an afternoon's nap, which the heat of the climate ren- 
 ders more agreeable than it is in our northern regions. 
 
 That they might not put their arms and bodies out of 
 the eafy and commodious poflure in which they had laid 
 them on the couch, they have been known to receive tra- 
 vellers lying quite ilill and motionlefs, excepting that they 
 have very civilly pointed out the road, by moving their foot 
 to the right or left. ProfefTor Thunberg, who has had 
 greater opportunities than I had of exploring the warmer 
 Carrow diftriCls, (vide Vol. I. page 246) where the inhabi- 
 tants were ftili more indolent, has given me an account 
 much to the fame purpofe. 
 
 The leaning of their arms on the table at meal times, is 
 a cuflom very common with the colonifts, and conliderecl 
 by them as a very laudable one, and in this particularly I: 
 followed my hofl's example ; but I could not fufficiently 
 admire the inventive fpirit of idlenefs, exhibited in the vo- 
 luptuous poflure in which they univerfally indulge them- 
 felves when they fmoke their pipes. Sitting on a bench 
 or a chair without elbows, v/ith their backs moderately 
 bent, they lay their left leg over their right knee, and upon 
 
 the^
 
 1 66 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^yi^' the left knee again thus raifed, they reft their left elbow, 
 v.^ry>J while with the hand on the fame fide they fupport their 
 chin, or one of their cheeks, at the fame time holding 
 their pipes in their mouths. Their right hand is then at 
 liberty to grafp the fmall of their left leg with, or elfe to 
 convey now and then to their mouth a cooling draught of 
 tea. Let the reader reprefent to himfelf feveral people fit- 
 ting together in this pofture, and he will readily conceive 
 what an elegant figure they would make in a group. I 
 never faw any of the fair fex, however, in a pofture of 
 this kind. Among a fet of beings fo entirely devoted to 
 their eafe, one might naturally expedt to meet with a va- 
 riety of the moft commodious eafy chairs and fofas ; but 
 the truth is, that they find it much more commodious to 
 avoid the trouble of inventing and making them. 
 
 I remarked as a very lingular circumftance, that a wealthy 
 farmer at Agter Bruntjes-hoogte, who had plenty of tim- 
 ber to fell, had neverthelefs only a ricketty elbow-chair in 
 his houfe, and a few fcanty ftools of the moft iimple con- 
 ftrudtion, made of a fingle board, with four rough-hewn 
 ill-fliapen legs. What, however, was ftill more fingular 
 was, that notwithftanding that one of thefe ftools had loft a 
 leg, yet it was frequently made ufe of to the endangering of 
 the perfon's limbs who fat upon it, without either the 
 m after of the houfe or any of his three fons, who were 
 otherwife all alert enough at the chafe, having ever once 
 thought of mending it. Nor did the inhabitants of this 
 place exhibit much lefs fimplicity and moderation, or to 
 fpeak more properly, flovenlinefs and penury in their drefs 
 ^han in their furniture ; neither of which, therefore, were 
 
 in
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 167 
 
 in any wife correfpondent to the larQ-e flocks and herds '77^- 
 
 ' •*■ '-' January. 
 
 poflefled by thefe graziers, and the plentiful tables they v^^vsJ 
 could afford to keep in confequence of thefe poffeiiions. 
 The diflance at which they are from the Cape, may, in- 
 deed, be fome excufe for their having no other earthen- 
 ware or china in their houfes, but what was cracked or 
 broken ; but this, methinks, fliould not prevent them from 
 being in poffeflion of more than one or two old pewter pots, 
 and fome few plates of the fame metal ; fo that two people 
 are frequently obliged to eat out of one difli, uling it befides 
 for every different article of food that comes upon table. 
 
 Each gueft mufl bring his knife with him, and they 
 frequently make ufe of their fingers inflead of forks. The 
 mofl wealthy farmer here is conlidered as being well dreffed 
 in a- jacket of home-made cloth, or fomething of the kind 
 made of any other coarfe cloth, breeches of undreffed lea- 
 ther, woollen flockings, a flriped waiftcoat, a cotton hand- 
 kerchief about his neck, a coarfe callico fliirt, Hottentot 
 field-llioes, or elfe leathern flioes, with brafs buckles, and 
 a coarfe hat. Indeed it is not in drefs, but in the number 
 and thriving condition of their cattle, and chiefly in the 
 Houtnefs of their draught- oxen, that thefe peafants vie 
 with each other. It is likewife by adlivity and manly ac- 
 tions, and by other qualities, that render a man fit for the 
 married flate, and the rearing of a family, that the youth 
 chiefly obtain the efteem of the fair fex ; none of whom 
 likewife were ever known, for the fake of vying with each 
 other in point of drefs, to have endangered either their huf- 
 band's property or their own virtue. A plain clofe cap, and a 
 eoarfe cotton gown, virtue and good houfewifery, are look- 
 4 eel
 
 ,i68 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^76- ed upon by the fair fex as fufficient ornaments for their 
 
 January. n- • t r j- • -i • 
 
 ^,^*y^; perfons ; a nutnig dilpolition, coquetry and paint, would 
 have very little efFedl in making conquefts of young men, 
 brought up in fo hardy a manner, and who have had fo 
 homely and artlefs an education, as the youth in this place. 
 In fliort, one may here, if any where in the world, lead 
 an innocent, virtuous, and happy life. 
 
 When in company with thefe plain artlefs hufbandmen, 
 I ufed frequently to ftart fuch queftions and fubje6ls of 
 converfation, as tended to give them a proper fenfe of the 
 happinefs of their fituation, and make them fet a higher 
 value upon it, than they perhaps had done before. In- 
 deed, I thought I could not more properly or more agreea- 
 bly employ the little Dutch I had learned, than in per- 
 fuading the good people among whom I fojourned, to be 
 content with their lot, and confequently to be happy. One 
 day, when I was urging this point, 1 received the follow- 
 ing pertinent, but kind reply, from a difcreet fenlible wo- 
 man, who was daughter to an inferior magiftrate at Zzvel- 
 lendam^ and was married to a yeoman in this place. 
 
 " My good friend, faid flie, you talk like a prudent fen- 
 fible man ; I am quite of your opinion, and wifh you every 
 happinefs that can attend you : why need you wander any 
 longer up and down the world in queft of happinefs ? You 
 Jjnd it here, and are welcome to enjoy it among us. You 
 have already a waggon, oxen, and faddle horfes ; thefe 
 are the chief things requilite in order to fet up a farmer ; 
 there are yet uncultivated places enough in this neighbour- 
 hood, proper either for i:)afturage or tillage, fo that you 
 :iriay choofe out of an extenfive tradl of land the fpot that 
 
 pleafes
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 169 
 
 l^leafes you beft. Here are people enough, who will fend ^776. 
 you that part of their cattle to keep which they cannot l^^vnJ 
 conveniently look after themfelves, on conditions that you 
 fliall have the young ones produced by them for your 
 trouble. In this vvay, many young beginners have acquired 
 a competency in a few years. With your knowledge of 
 diforders and plants, you may render yourfelf ferviceable 
 to your neighbours, and now and then get a heifer or a 
 calf. In ihort, I will venture to prophefy, that you \^'ill 
 foon have cows and fheep in abundance. Yet there is ftill 
 fomewhat wanting, which is moft eflential to your hap- 
 pinefs ; this is, a prudent and difcreet wife : take my ad- 
 vice and look about you, and I will take upon me to 
 afTure you, that you will not long be without one in this 
 country." 
 
 This advice, fo confonant to the voice of nature, and 
 coming with fuch kind intention from the fair fex, could 
 not but greatly affedl me : it is remarkable, however, that 
 the poor woman who gave it me, had herfelf a bad huf- 
 band. 
 
 As a farther proof, that it is not fo much to the diffe- 
 rent degrees in which nature has fhed her bounty over the 
 place a man lives in, as to himfelf and his fellow-creatures, 
 that he ought to impute his felicity, I had the chagrin to 
 fee the peace of this happy fpot interrupted by the jarring 
 of two neighbours. 
 
 Having now for fome time departed in my nan^ation from 
 the order of my journal, I will here refume it. — I ftaid at 
 Agter Bruntjes-hoogte till the 2 1 ft day of January. During 
 this time my oxen, which before were very lean, had got 
 
 Vol. IL Z into
 
 lyo 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »776. into good condition ; and we ourfelves took care, by drink- 
 C!^^^ ing plentifully of butter-milk, and by doing honour to the 
 good fare fet before us in great abundance by thefe worthy 
 ruftics, to make ourfelves amends for the hunger, thirft, 
 and other hardfhips we had faffered for a whole month in 
 the defert. Among other delicacies, we were entertained 
 on the 3d of January with a difli, as delicious as it was lin- 
 gular, taken from a couple of fcore of calves which had 
 been caftrated that day. The women too ate of this dilh 
 without blufhing. I hav6 already mentioned, that I had 
 had on my way hither fome little tendency to the gout ; 
 and at this place it increafed fo much, that on the 8th and 
 9th of this month I could fcarcely ftand on either foot. A 
 ftifFnefs with which the finews and articulations of my feet 
 were affe^led, and which was attended with an acute pain 
 and dry heat difFufed over the fkin itfelf, occafioned me to 
 think of the vapour bath, as being a powerfully emollient 
 rem.edy. The quick relief I had feen afforded by artificial 
 warm baths to two gouty patients in Africa-, as well as the 
 benefits arifing in fimilar diforders from the ufe of natural 
 warm baths in this country, added to iny not being able to 
 bear either the pain or lofs of time occafioned by this dif- 
 c^der,' induced me likewife foon to make the experiment 
 on rtiyfelf, and thereby entirely overcome both the com- 
 plaint in my foot, and the common prejudice, that the gout 
 wiU not bear water. 
 
 The apparatus was to the full as fimple and eafy as the 
 remedy. My feet were placed twice a day for three or four 
 hours at a time, on a ftick laid acrofs a tub of warm wate^, 
 in which the llcam and heat were confined by means of 
 
 cloths,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 171 
 
 cloths^ and kept up by the addition of heated flones. At '"^s- 
 
 ^ January. 
 
 intervals I hkewife put my foot down into the water, but U^-yx-^ 
 this did not feem to produce fuch fpeedy and evident re- 
 lief as the vapour did, but rather produced a RvelUng in 
 the feet, with fome degree of fpafm. Within a few days 
 I was entirely recovered, and about the fame time had the 
 pleafure of refloring, by means of this bath, a farmer's 
 wife, w^ho had befides a bad habit of body, in fome de- 
 gree to the ufe of her feet ; though for feveral weeks before, 
 by reafon of the pain and fwelling in them, fhe had not 
 been able to fet them on the ground. 
 
 Since my return to my native country, I have not been 
 able to perfuade any gouty perfon in limilar circumftances 
 to make ufe of this remedy ; though I can now likewife 
 appeal to the univerfally as well as juflly celebrated Dr. 
 TissoT, who, in a cafe he has given to the public, en- 
 deavours to oppofe the prejudices entertained againfl luke- 
 warm pediluviums in the gout. (Vid. EJJai fur les Ma- 
 ladies des Gens du monde, p. 142. Laufanne^ 1772.) 
 
 The farmer's wife above-mentioned, was one of the two 
 patients on whofe account I was obliged to make a longer 
 flay in this place, as I have already intimated. The other 
 was a boy of ten years of age, w^ho kept his bed upwards 
 of fix months with a fiftulous ulcer in the thigh, accom- 
 panied with a he6tic fever and great pain, all which were 
 fuppofed to have proceeded merely from his having jump- 
 ed from off a waggon three feet high. The part afflicted 
 with pain, which afterwards began to ulcerate, had been 
 dreffed ever fince, purfuant to a method as commonly prac- 
 tifed in this country as it is prejudicial, with hot and irritat- 
 
 Z 2 ing
 
 172 - A VOYAGE to the 
 
 "^Ti^- ins: cataplafms made of aromatic herbs. But after I had 
 
 lanuarv. o ^ 
 
 O-Y-O enlarged the wound, and had drefled it for a confiderable 
 time with a falve compofed of honey mixed with a Httle 
 oil and melted wax, the patient's diet all the while confilt- 
 ing only of wort, milk, and greens, with now and then a 
 little bread, I was able to extradl a fplinter of a bone three 
 inches l-ong, and three fingers broad, after which the whole 
 feemed difpofed to heal very faft. 
 
 Notwithftanding that by limple and very eafy reme- 
 dies of this kind, the lives of the African ruftics might 
 be for the moll part faved, and the calamities attendant 
 on life be mitigated ; yet in this fimple and truly paf- 
 toral way of life, fo univerfally celebrated for its felicity, 
 and in the midft of their delightful parks and meadows, 
 ftill they are fo far unfortunate, that, when they are at- 
 tacked by any diforder, they are either entirely ignorant 
 of the remedies bed adapted to the cure of it, or for the 
 moft part apply them very improperly ; and at the fame 
 time are at the diftance of many hundred, and, indeed, 
 one mav fav, fome thoufands of miles from thofe, from 
 whofe advice alone and alTiftance they have reafon to ex- 
 pe6l relief: and in fo far at leaft is this much-vaunted 
 paftoral way of life, with all its fimplicity and concomi- 
 tant ignorance, lefs to be prized than our more populous 
 and better regulated focieties in towns and cities, where, 
 belides the advantages redounding to mankind from all the 
 other fciences, that of medicine in particular remarkably 
 contributes to the happinefs enjoyed by mortals in this life. 
 
 It appeared to me very lingular, that the colonirts had 
 very little, and, indeed, I may fay, no knowledge at all of 
 
 one
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 173 
 
 one of the commonefl and moft troublefome diforders of 
 any they were fubject to, which was worms. Adults, and 
 even elderly perfons, feemed to be more univerfally trou- 
 bled with this complaint than children ; particularly with 
 the tape worm, the fymptoms of which were like wife often 
 plainly to be difcovered in men of the healthiell appearance. 
 Beiides a great number of the more ufual f ymptoms, which 
 afcertain the prefence of thefe animals, moft of the patients 
 complained of an oppredion at the bread, and an anxiety 
 about the heart {barjl quaal en benaanwde borft^) for which 
 reafon the greater part of them, fome of their own heads, 
 and others in purfuance of the advice of quacks at the 
 Cape, kept themfelves weak and low by a fpare diet and 
 remedies againft the confumption of the lungs, and often 
 kept on pertinaciouHy in this treatment of themfelves; 
 though the longer they continued it, the worfe they grew. 
 Nay, under an apprehenfion of their lungs being difeafed, 
 they had even given up their beloved brandy ; though at 
 the fame time they owned they never had obferved that it 
 was in any ways prejudicial to them, in refpect to the 
 principal complaint. Having, therefore, during the op- 
 preffion on the cheil, the fwoonings, or the difficulty of 
 refpiration v, ith which they were feized, been perfuaded 
 by me to take a fup or two of it, efpecially when the vir- 
 tues of it were heightened by zvilde alfies (a kind of worm- 
 wood) being infufed in it, and they having always found 
 inftant relief for the time, their joy can hardly be con- 
 ceived, which w^as not lefs (as they fometimes jocofely 
 confefTed) on account of their being able to enjoy the 
 fweets of this delicious remedy, than of the effect it had 
 
 in
 
 174 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. in relieving their complaints ; they likewiie rejoiced in 
 i(^]il!^ finding themfelves able to ftand this proof of their lungs 
 not being afFe6led, as in confcquence of their fear on that 
 account, they would hardly have ventured to follow my ad- 
 vice, had I not, on the lirfl fufpicion 1 had of their dif- 
 order, informed them of moll of their complaints before 
 hand, by reckoning up the fymptoms ufually attendant on 
 worms. Garlick, the buds of the wilde aJjTes above-men- 
 tioned, fait, oil, ox-gall, and aloes, v>'ere, of ail vermifuges, 
 the eafieft to be procured here ; and were given them, to- 
 gether with fome refin of jalap which I had brought with 
 me ; but two of Vereira's relations rafhly attacked their 
 worms with garlick, both taken alone and mixed with ^very 
 thing they ate, and by this means foon voided a number 
 of worms, and got rid of all their complaints. One of 
 them faid he had difcharged part of a worm with legs and 
 feet, which was grey at top, but yellow under the belly 
 like rups^ or caterpillars, which are changed into chryfalifes, 
 and afterwards become butterflies. He had likewife ob- 
 ferved the exuvia^ or Ikins, of this kind of worm in his 
 ordinary evacuations. 
 
 Befides the fatisfa6lion I found in being ufeful, and 
 Ihewing my gratitude to thefe hofpitable ruftics, by giving 
 them my advice on this, as well as on other occaiions, as 
 well as by the diftribution of fome medicines which I had 
 brought with me, and always gave away gratis in the 
 courfe of my journey, I by this means likewife got more 
 into their good graces, and procured afliftance more readily, 
 and more authentic information, than I perhaps could have 
 done with money : fo that the llender flock of medical 
 
 know-
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 175 
 
 knowledge I was poffelTed of, proved of greater fervice to ^7?^- 
 me than I could have imagined ; not to mention the afto- ^^^^ys^J 
 nifliment and veneration which it excited in thefe good peo- 
 ple, and which often reminded me of the proverb, dans 
 le pais des aveugles les borgnes font rois. 
 
 The caufe, why worms are fo common a diforder in this 
 colony, I dare, not undertake to explain. It may be fuf- 
 pedled that in many people they are hereditary, and are 
 increafed by a copious milk diet. Others, perhaps, wxre 
 infefled by thefe animals, by means of the foul and putrid 
 water which they were for the moft part obliged to put up 
 with in their hunting expeditions, and in their journey to 
 the Cape ; the men in particular, appearing to be troubled 
 with this complaint. With refpedl to thefe country peo- 
 ple, there does not feem to be much room for attributing 
 the diforder to fifh, as in the frefli water and rivers of thefe 
 regions there is hardly any to be found. When, however, 
 thefe ruftics get to the Cape, they generally take care not 
 to want for frefli fifli. The towns-people, on the contrary, 
 who live a good deal upon frefli fifli, are not in proportion 
 fo much troubled with Vvorms ; but then they have pure 
 water to drink; milk is rather fcarce with them; while, 
 on the other hand, they do not ufe to flint themfelves in 
 the articles of wine and fpirituous liquors. 
 
 On the 5th I rode out a hunting along with two farmers, 
 being chiefly in quefi of the gmc^ the animal I have defcribed 
 at page 1 3 1 of this Volume. In thefe parts we found large 
 herds of them, and fhot a female ^;z^ quite through the body ; 
 notwithtlianding which, fhe ran, though tottering, to the 
 diftance of eighty or an hundred paces from us before fhe 
 
 7 fell.
 
 176 A VOYAGE tothe 
 
 »776- fell. Being mounted on fleet horfes, we were able to ride by 
 dvxJ them all, and feparate one of the herds from the reft, from 
 whence we drove away a calf, which we took home with us 
 alive. It was of this* that I afterwards made the diffedlion, 
 to which I have referred in page 133, for the proof of what 
 I there advanced. The height of this animal was two feet, and 
 the length from the ears to the tail meafured nearly the fame; 
 the tail itfelf was fix inches long, and very hairy, with white 
 and briftly hairs at the tip. To conclude, the predominant 
 colour in this animal is a very pale or light brown ; the belly 
 is white, the nofe black; there is a black circle round the eyes ; 
 it is like wife black about the ears, and its forehead is of a 
 dark brown colour ; the mane is black, two inches long, and 
 rather of a briftly nature, being fet off on each fide by hairs 
 equal to its length, which cover the neck, and which are 
 twice as long as they are in other parts of the body ; the 
 beard too inclines more to grey, or is of a lighter colour 
 than the reft of the animal's body. I had likewife pre- 
 vioufty feen and examined another tame one of the fame 
 fize, which was intended for a prefent for the governor: 
 it was feared, however, that this, as well as the yoxing 
 hartbeefts which they were endeavouring to bring up tame, 
 w^ould be fubjedl to a kind of furor or madnefs. The cry 
 of the young gnu was fometimes 07ye^ and at other times na- 
 ^vondy a good deal refembling the nonje of the colonifts 
 (meaning mifs,) and their ufual contraction of the words 
 goeden avond, or good evening ; fo that in the dark, the 
 found might eafily be miliaken for the voice or falutation 
 of a child. The roafted flefli of this gnu-fawn, the ani- 
 cnal being extremely young, was foft and iiabby. 
 
 On
 
 C A P E OF GOO D H O P E. 177 
 
 On the day I have mentioned we Hkewife fhot a quagga^ 
 which was almoft entirely devoured within a few hours 
 by birds of prey, after having, according to their ufual 
 cuflom, begun with the eyes. 
 
 An animal of the height of eighteen inches was known 
 to the farmei-s here by the name of the grey jackal^ as it 
 approaches pretty near the common jackal in fize, as well 
 as. in the lliape of its head and body; but to judge from 
 the teeth alone, as far as I can recollect them at prefent, 
 the grey jackal {Qtrci?> rather to bear the charadleriftic marks 
 by which the vivara^ or weafel kind is diilinguiflied in the 
 Syjlem of Nature^ Edit. XII. 
 
 The hair with which the grey jackal was covered, was 
 a mixture of light grey and black; fo that this creature .was 
 of a dark afh colour all over, excepting towards the tip of 
 the tail, which, for the length of three inches, w^as quite 
 black; it was belides pretty bufhy, and reached down to 
 the animal's heels. The hairs, indeed, over the whole body 
 were pretty long and foft, but on the back they w^ere about 
 twice as long as in other parts, fo that they appeared to 
 form a brufh or comb : for which reafon, this animal may 
 for the prefent be called the viverra crijlata. I fay for the 
 prefent') as well on the account that the fluffed flvin of this 
 creature was ftolen out of my waggon by fome hounds 
 with which we had been out a hunting, before I had time 
 to draw \ip a more accurate defcription of it, as likewife be- 
 caufe it is very dif&cult as yet to define the genera belong- 
 ing to the order of ferce, I made a drawing of the grey 
 jackal's liver, and on going to examine it with this view, 
 I found it divided in a fingular manner. The right lung 
 
 Vol. IL A a hkewife
 
 178 A V O y A G E TO the 
 
 »776. likewile had four lobes, and the left three. The ftomach 
 
 January. . . . r ^ 
 
 \^yY^ had nothing but ants in it, or, to Ipeak more properly, the 
 white termites before-mentioned; yet, that it may not be 
 fuppofed from this circum fiance, that the animal here 
 fpoken of belongs to the genus of the myrmecopbaga of 
 LiNNitus, it may be proper to mention here, that the cha- 
 radler of this genus is the total want of teeth; and that, 
 exclulively of our Swedifli bears, the Hottentots themfelves 
 are likewife very fond of this food. 
 
 This day we hunted another animal, which was called 
 the onkjes jackaly and feemed with refpe6l to fhape and fize, 
 in fome meafure to refemble the grey jackal^ but was of a 
 deep brown colour. It now made its efcape from us by a 
 fubterraneous pafTage. It has obtained the name of onkjes, 
 in confequence of its digging up, and feeding upon, the 
 bulbs and roots of flowers. The onkjes jackal^ moreover, 
 is fuppofed to be more common than the grey, and is, per- 
 haps, a kind of badger. Neither this creature nor the 
 former were, as far as I could find, known to any body but 
 the farmers in this neighbourhood. 
 
 The common jackal^ or the jackal properly fo called, 
 nearly refembles our European fox in its form, manners, 
 and difpofition; and here, at leaft, is not known to afTemble 
 in packs, for the purpofe of hunting. Neither is what authors 
 have advanced concerning the hideous cry and voracity of 
 the jackal applicable to this quadruped, thefe qualities being 
 probably peculiar to the hyaena and wild dog, with which 
 animals it has been by fome means confounded. A couj^le 
 of fkins which I brought home with me, three feet in 
 length, with a tail fome what above a foot long, entirely 
 
 corref])ond,
 
 G A PE OF G 6 O D H O P E, 179 
 
 correfpond, with refpe6l to hair and colour, with M. Dau- '77^- 
 
 ^ -^ ' January-. 
 
 berton's defcription of the chacal^ (Buffon, Tom. XIII. V^^yn*^ 
 p. 268) excepting the fpots on the forelegs; and like wife 
 refemble M. Schreber's coloured plate of the cams 77iefQ' 
 mely or capifche fchakalt^ Tab. XCV. p. 370. ThisisUke- 
 wifeMr. Pennant's y^^/^^/, Vol. I. p. 242. 
 
 The predominant colour in this animal is a reddifli yel- 
 low, the legs in particular are of a pale gold colour; un- 
 der the belly, and on the inlide of the legs, the colour in- 
 clines to white ; the nofe and ears are of a reddifli call ; the 
 head grey; the back part of the neck, together with the 
 whole back, are covered with a large dark grey fpot of the 
 Ihape of a lancet, with the point towards the tail ; which 
 fpot, as M. Daubenton has well remarked, is compofed of 
 black and white circular ftreaks of hair intermixed ; the 
 tail is partly grey, and partly of an umber colour, but at 
 the tip black. I remember that once I faw the fur of a 
 foetus of a jackal -, which was of a very fine yellow colour, 
 and inflead of a blackifli grey had a dark brown fpot upon 
 its back. 
 
 The ratelf fo called in Africa both by the colonifts and 
 Hottentots, I have given a drawing of in the Swedifli Tranf- 
 adions for the year 1777, p. 147. Tab. IV. and at the fame 
 time defcribed it by the name of the viverra rateL (I have 
 likewif^ annexed a figure of it at Plate V. of this Volume.) 
 By the colour, it fhould feem to be the very fame fpecies of 
 animal which M. de la Caille faw about Picquet-berg^ and 
 has mentioned at page 182, by the name of the blereau pua?7t\ 
 though this author did not himfelf obferve any difagreeable 
 odour in the animal, and I, for my part, have never heard 
 
 A a 2 the
 
 January 
 
 x8o A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »776- the leafl: mention made of it ; at the fame time that M. de la 
 Caille does not fay a Ungle fyllable concerning the fingu- 
 lar oeconomy of the animal, and moreover defcribes the 
 claws as being fomewhat fmaller than they really are, par- 
 ticularly on the hind feet. Les deux trous oblongs a Tou- 
 verture de la giieule, dans lefquels la peau rentre, according 
 to the obfervation made by M. de la Caille, appear to 
 deferve a more accurate investigation and defcription. 
 
 In ScHREBER on the mamma/ia^ p. 450, Tab. CXXV. 
 there is a defcription and drawing of it under the denomi- 
 nation of the Jlinkbinks^i or the viverra Capenfis\ though, 
 in my opinion, the claws and tail in this figure are too 
 fhort, and the head too thick and clumfy, and too black 
 underneath. M. Schreber mentions his having heard, 
 that this animal is fond of honey ; a circumftance eon- 
 firmed by the following account, which I have before in- 
 ferted in the Swedifh Tranfadlions. 
 
 In this part of Africa there is to be feen a conliderable 
 number of holes and fubterraneous pafTages, fome of which 
 are adlually inhabited, while others have been previoufly 
 formed, but fmce deferted by the hyjlrix crijlatay a fort of 
 7nus jaculusy or the jerbua Capenjisj the jackal, the mok^ 
 the fus ALthiopicus, with feveral fpecies of vherra. Juft 
 within the apertures of thefe cavities, and of the fubter- 
 raneous paifages which are blocked up in part by the ground 
 having givert way, the bees moft commonly ufe to make 
 their nefts, efpecially as trees fit for their purpofe are fel- 
 dom to be found. The rately a fort of weafel or badger, 
 by nature deftined to be the adverfary of the bees, and the 
 unwelcome vifitor of their habitations, is likewife endued 
 
 with
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. i8i 
 
 with a particular faculty for difcovering and attacking them '776- 
 within their entrenchments. His long clawS) befides af- v^^rO 
 iifting him in digging the dark fubterraneous paffages 
 which ferve him for an afylum, are likewife of ufe to 
 him in the occupation he is frequently employed in of un- 
 dermining whole colonies of bees. As a man placed at the 
 iTiaft-head can eafieft defcry a fail or land at a great diftance 
 about fun-fet, fo probably this time of the day is the molt 
 convenient for the ratel to look out for his fupper ; for he 
 is faid likewife to be particularly attentive to his bufinefs 
 about fun-fet, and will lit and hold one of his paws before 
 his eyes, in order to modify the rays of the fun, fo as to 
 render them inofFenfive to his organs of fight, and at the 
 fame time to have a diilindl view of the objedl of his pur- 
 fuit : and when, in confequence of peering in this manner 
 on each fide of his paw oppofite to the fun, he fees any 
 bees fly, he knows that they are at this time going ftrait 
 forward to their own habitation, and confequently takes 
 care to keep in the fame direcSlion as that in which they 
 ily, in order to find them. He has befides, the fagacity as 
 well as the Hottentots, the CafFres, and the peafants of the 
 Cape, to follow a little bird^ which flies on by degrees with 
 the alluring note of cberr^ cherr^ cherry and gviides its fol- 
 lowers to the bees' nefl. This felf-interefted betrayer of 
 the bees, to which I have many times been obliged for the 
 honey I have eaten in the courfe of my travels through the 
 defert, is the little cuculus indicator^ which I have defcribed 
 and given a drawing of in the Phil. Tranf. and propofe to 
 make mention of a little farther on. 
 
 As
 
 i82 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 "^11^- As the rater 5 hairs are ftiff and harfli, fo its hide is 
 
 January. 
 
 Vfc^vO tough, and the animal itfelf is difficult to kill. The co- 
 lonifts and the Hottentots hoth affert, that it is almoft im- 
 poffible to kill this creature, without giving it a great num- 
 ber of violent blows on the nofe ; on which account they 
 deflroy it by fhooting it, or phinging a knife into its body. 
 The fliortnefs of the ratel's legs will not permit him to 
 make his efcape by flight, when purfued by the hounds; 
 he is able, how^ever, to extricate himfelf from their clutches 
 by biting and fcratching them in a violent degree; while, 
 on the other hand, he is perfe6lly well defended from the 
 aflaults of their teeth by the toughnefs of his hide : for 
 when a hound endeavours to bite him, it can lay hold only 
 on the ratel's tough hide ; which in this cafe inflantly fepa- 
 rates from the creature's body or flefli, as it is reported to 
 lie loofe from the fkin, as though it were within a fack ; 
 fo that when any body catches hold of him by the hind 
 part of his neck, and that even pretty near his head, he is 
 able to turn round, as it w^ere, in his fkin, and bite the 
 arm of the perfon that feizes him. It is a remarkable cir- 
 cumftance, that a number of hounds, which colledlively 
 are able to tear a lion of a moderate fize in pieces, are faid 
 fometimes to be forced to leave the ratel only dead to ap- 
 pearance. This report feems to be confirmed by the cir- 
 cumftance of M. de la Gaille's blereau piianfs flill be- 
 ing alive, after the hounds had dragged it avv^ay to the wag- 
 gon. Thus far, however, is certain, that on the fur of 
 the ratel I have brought home with me, there is fcarcely 
 the mark of a bite to be feen, though it had been attacked 
 and worried by '\ number of hounds. Is it not probable, 
 
 that
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 183 
 
 that nature, which has deflined the ratel for the deftruc- , '776. 
 
 ' January. 
 
 tioii of bees, may have beftowed on it a hide fo much v,^w^ 
 tougher than thofe liie has given to other animals of the 
 viverra kind, merely for the purpofe of defending it from 
 the flings of thefe infe<5ls ? Or may not this creature's food, 
 which coniifts of wax and honey, make it fo tough and 
 difficult to kill ? 
 
 Thofe bees nefls which are built vip in trees, are in no 
 danger whatever from the ratel. In the firll tranfports of 
 liis rage at having fought after thefe bees in vain, he ufes 
 to gnaw or bite the trunk of thefe trees; and thefe bites 
 are fure marks for the Hottentots, that a bees neft is to be 
 found up in that tree. I fliould myfelf have harboured 
 many doubts concerning all thefe circumftances attributed 
 to the ratel, had I not obtained various accounts of this 
 curious animal, entirely correfponding with each other, 
 from many experienced farmers and Hottentots living in 
 diiferent parts of the country. 
 
 As I was not fortunate enough to catch a ratel myfelf, 
 I muft be contented with giving fuch a defcription of it 
 here, as I have been able to make from this creature's Ikin. 
 
 The fore teetby fix in each jaw, moflly of the fame fize, 
 flat at top, probably in confequence of being worn away; 
 canine teeth ^ two in each jaw, very flrong and large when 
 compared with the fize of the animal, but obtufe, (proba- 
 bly likewife in confequence of their being worn away ;) the 
 grinders^ about fix in number, had, as wxll as the others, a 
 yellow cafl, perhaps from the anirrial feeding upon honey. 
 The tongue was fliarp, and the papillae fharp and turned 
 back, as in cats. 
 
 7 The
 
 i84' AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 "^-ii^- The legs arefliort ; toes five on each of the fore feet, armed 
 
 V.^yO with projecting claws an inch and a half long, but thofe of 
 the hind feet no more than half that length. Thefe claws 
 have a fliarp edge, which half way np the fore part of it 
 is double, or rather excavated with a deep furrow; a cir- 
 cumftance that apparently greatly aflifls the animal in dig- 
 ging. There is nothing like ear-laps to be feen on this 
 creature, excepting a trifling rim round about a rather large 
 aperture, in which is placed the organ of hearing. 
 
 Colour \ the forehead, crown of the head, nape of the 
 neck, flioulders, back, and tail are of an afli colour; the 
 nofe, and the part round the eyes, and on the cheek-bone, 
 the ears, the lower part of the neck, the breafl, belly, 
 thighs, and legs, are of a black hue inclining to brown ; as 
 are like wife the extreme limits of the afli-coloured part juil 
 mentioned, which are moreover feparated from the black 
 colour by means of a light grey lift an inch broad, running 
 from the ear quite back to the tail. 
 
 Size of the Jkin : From the tip of the nofe to the tail 
 forty inches ; length of the tail twelve inches ; that of the 
 claws, taken together with the whole phalanx, or all the 
 toes of the fore feet, one inch and three quarters ; of thofe 
 of the hind feet one inch. 
 
 Two other fmall animals, which probably like wife be- 
 long to the viverra genus, I had only a hafty glimpfe of 
 in this colony. The one we faw and gave chafe to be- 
 tween the two Fifh rivers, made its efcape from us, how- 
 ever, by running into a hole under ground, and feemed 
 to be fomewhat lefs than a cat, though longer in propor- 
 tion. The colour of it was a bright red. Of the other 
 
 fort
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 185 
 
 Ibrt I faw two at once in the vicinity of Niez-h out -kloofs ^77^- 
 
 January. 
 
 when they inllantly ran out of my fight, and hid themfelves V.^^v-^ 
 in a bufn. They appeared to be of a coal-black colour, and 
 above a foot high ; yet I am not certain, whether they were 
 not onkjes jackals^ the animal I have already made mention of 
 at page 1 7 6 of this Volume. The former of thefe like wife, 
 I mean the light or rofe-coloured animal, might be, for aught 
 I know, the zerda^ or vulpes mtjiimus farenfis ofM. Skiol- 
 DEBRAND, the Swcdifli conful at Algiers, (vide the SwediJJj 
 I'ranJaBionsiQX 1777? page 265) not being able during the 
 chafe, to attend to its ears fo accurately as I could have wiflied ; 
 and at the fame time having been informed, that there was 
 a very fmall animal, with long ears, which lived under ground, 
 and was not unfrequently feen on the plains in Camdebo^ but 
 was difficult to catch, efpecially as it never went far from 
 its hole. In this point likewife, it anfwers to the defcrip- 
 tion of the zerda quoted above ; but this again feems in- 
 confiilent with the account given of it by Mr. Bruce, who 
 fays it lives in palm-trees, (on the fruit of which it fubfifts,) 
 in Libya^ to the fouth of the Palus Tritonidis, (Vide 'Rvv- 
 vo'i^''s Animal Anonyme^ Supplement, Tom. III. page 148, 
 Tab. XIX.) It is poffible, indeed, that this creature is to be 
 found in Libya ; but I have been informed by M. Skiolde- 
 BRAND, that Mr. Bruce had previoufly feen this animal 
 in Algiers^ (where both thefe gentlemen were confuls to^ 
 gether) and had employed the fame painter as M. Skiol- 
 DEBRAND did, to make a drawing of it ; and hence it is, 
 that on comparing the two figures, viz. of the animal 
 from Libyay and of that from Algiers^ it plainly appears, 
 Vol. II. B b that
 
 January 
 
 1 86 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^11^' that they are taken from each other, or elfe from one and 
 the fame original. 
 
 Many of M. Skioldebrand's friends, and among them 
 M. NicANDER, one of the fecretaries of the Royal Academy 
 of Sciences in Sweden, have feen a figure of the zerda re- 
 prefented in its natural fize and colour, many years ago, 
 in M. Skioldebrand's fuperb colledtion; but could notper- 
 fuade this gentleman to ornament the Swedifli Tranfa6lions 
 with it before, as, the animal having unfortunately ef- 
 caped from him, before he could examine its teeth, and 
 other particulars, he had waited a long time, though in 
 vain, in hopes of procuring fome better information from 
 Algiers with refpecTt to thefe points. M. Skioldebrand 
 could not find at the bottom of this creature's large and beau- 
 tiful ears, which were of a rofy hue, any traces of a perfora- 
 tion ; indeed thefe perforaitions would eafily be filled up, and 
 would confequently become very inconvenient to an animal 
 like this, which is obliged to burrow and live under the 
 land. He fuppofes that providence has made good this 
 defe6t, by fome membrane lying not very deep in the ear. 
 Mr. Pennant follows M. Skioldebrand in the account he 
 gives of this animal in Vol. I. p. 248, at the fame time 
 referring it to the dog genus. 
 
 The bee-cuckow^ {cuci-clus indicator) which I made men- 
 tion of juft above, in defcribing the ratel at p. 181, deferves 
 to have more particular notice taken of it in this place. It has, 
 however, nothing remarkable in it with regard to its fize 
 and colour, as, on a curfory view, it appears in thefe points 
 not to differ from the common fparrow ; excepting indeed, 
 8 that
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 187 
 
 that it is fomewhat larger, and rather of a Hghter colour, ,//jf^ 
 with a little yellow fpot on each flioulder, and the feathers v»^yO 
 of its tail daflied with white. 
 
 It is, indeed, merely with a view to its own intered, 
 that this cuckov) difcovers the bees-nefts to man and the 
 ratel race, as it is extremely fond both of honey and bees- 
 eggs; and it knows that when a bees-neft is plundered, 
 fome of it is fhed, which confequently falls to its fliare, or 
 elfe fome part is left by the plunderers as a reward for its 
 fervices. Neverthelefs, the way in which this bird com- 
 municates to others the difcoverv it has made, is as fur- 
 priUng as it is well adapted to the purpofe. 
 
 The morning and evening are probably its principal 
 meal times ; at leafl it is then that it fliews the greateit 
 inclination to come forth, and with the grating cry of 
 cherr<i cherr., cherr^ to excite, as it were, the attention of 
 the ratel, as well as of the Hottentots and colonills. Some- 
 body then generally repairs to the place whence the 
 found proceeds, w^hen the bird, all the while continually 
 repeating its cry of cherr, cherr, flies on flowly and by 
 degrees towards the quarter where the fwarm of bees have 
 taken up their abode. The perfons thus invited accord- 
 ingly follow, taking great care at the fame time not to 
 frighten their guide with any unufual noife, or by means 
 of a large company, but rather, as I have feen done 
 by one of the fhrewdeft of my BoJJms-men^ to anfwer it 
 now and then with a foft and very gentle whiille, by way 
 of letting the bird know that its call is attended to. I 
 have obferved, that w^hen the bees-neft was at a good dif- 
 tance, the bird, for the moft part, made long ftages, or 
 
 B b 2 flights,
 
 i88 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776. flights, waiting for its fporting companion between each 
 ^^Il^Xj fligti^ ^^^ farther exciting him ; but flew to fliorter dif- 
 tances, and repeated its cry more frequently, and with 
 greater earneftnefs, in proportion as they approached nearer 
 to the bees-nell. I Hkewife faw, with aftonifliment, what 
 1 had been previoufly afllired of by others, viz. that when 
 this bird has, in confequence of its great impatience, got 
 too far a-head of its followers, efpecially when, by reafon 
 of the roughnefs or unevennefs of the ground, they have 
 not been able to keep pace with it, it has flown back to 
 meet them, and with redoubled cries, denoting ftill greater 
 impatience, has upbraided them for being fo tardy. Fi- 
 nally, when it has come to the bees-nefl, v/hether this be 
 built in the cleft of a rock, in a hollow tree, or in fome 
 cavity in the earth, it hovers over the fpot for the fpace 
 of a few feconds, a circumflance which I myfelf have been 
 eye-witnefs to twice ; after which it fits in filence, and for 
 the mofl part concealed in fome neighbouring tree or bufh, 
 in expedlation of what may happen, and with a view of 
 coming in for its ftiare of the booty. It is probable, that 
 this bird always hovers, more or lefs, in the manner juft 
 mentioned, over the bees-nefl, before it hides itfelf, though 
 people do not always pay attention to this circumftance : 
 at all events, however, one may be aflured that the bees- 
 neft is very near, when, after the bird has taken one to 
 fome diftance, it is on a fudden iilent. In a place where we 
 halted a couple of days, my Hottentots were condudled by a 
 bee-cuckow, that was rather fliy and obfcure in its expreflions, 
 backwards and forwards feveral times to one and the fame 
 ' fpot, till one of them, who was more attentive to the bird 
 
 than
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 189 
 
 than the reft, thought of looking out there for the neft ^776. 
 itfelf. v^YvJ 
 
 Having, in confequence of the bird's diredlions, dug up 
 the bees-neft, or other wife come at it, and pkmdered it, 
 they ufually, by way of acknowledgment, leave it a con- 
 Uderable portion of the worft part, or that part of the 
 comb in w^hich the young bees are hatching; and which, 
 however, is probably for the bird the moft delicate morfel, 
 and indeed, is by no means looked upon as the worfl, even 
 by the Hottentots. I was informed by my Bolhies-men, as 
 well as by the colonifts, that a man who makes it his con- 
 ftant bulinefs to go after the bees, flrould not at firft be too 
 grateful and generous to this officious bird, but leave for 
 it only juil as inuch as will ferve to ftimulate its appetite ; 
 by which means it will be induced, in hopes of obtaining 
 a more liberal rew^ard, to difcover another fwarm of bees, 
 if there be any fuch in the neighbourhood. Though there 
 are plenty of wild bees round about Cape Town, yet both 
 the -bird itfelf and the peculiar property it has of difcover- 
 ing honey to others, were entirely unknown there ; nei- 
 ther could I, when I firft heard it fpoken of at G root -Fa- 
 ders-bofcb^ confider it in any other light than that of a fa- 
 ble ; efpecially as at the fame time I faw a lad w^ho was 
 out after one of thefe birds, fail in the object of his pur- 
 fuit. In this cafe, however, there was great reafon to lay 
 the blame on the clofenefs and compadnefs of the wood, 
 and the greater than ufual fhynefs of the bird. My Hot- 
 tentots from Buffel-jaagts-rroier and ZzveIIe?2dam alTured me 
 fince, that they had likewife been acquainted with this 
 bird at the places juft mentioned, where they were born, 
 
 but
 
 igo 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^11^- but owned at the fame time, that it was there uncommon as 
 
 January. TT'i«r\i it r ti 
 
 \^y>j well as lliy; nor did it direct them to the honey lo readily and 
 diflin6lly, as in the tradl of country where we then were" 
 in the defert, and near the river fKau-fkaij or Great 
 Fifcb-river, 
 
 By collating this laft remark with my account of the 
 ciicuhis indicator <i or honey-guide, inferted in the Fhilofo^ 
 phical ^ranfaSfions^ Vol. LXVII. page 38 and 43, it will 
 appear, that a geographical error has been fufFered to take 
 place there ; probably in confequence of their being obliged, 
 as my account was written in Engiifli, to alter this palTage, 
 fo as to make it approach nearer to the idiom of the Eng- 
 lifh language. 
 
 Though I had frequently in the defert, and once at ^- 
 ter Bruntjes-hoogtey feen this bird, w^hich, on account of 
 the fingular property it is endued with, is called by the 
 colonifls boning-wyzery or the honey-guide, and, indeed, 
 had not unfrequently reaped the fruits of its fervices, yet 
 I had not an opportunity of fliooting it till I was on the 
 road to return home, when I one day purfued it, the little 
 creature all the while flying before me with its cheering 
 note of cberr^ cberr. This, however, offended my Bofhies- 
 men not a little : and though I had previoufly promifed an 
 ample reward, confifting of glafs beads and tobacco, to my 
 ZweUendajn Hottentots, on condition that they would aflift 
 me in catching and fliooting a boning-wyzer^ yet I found 
 them too much the bird's friends to betray it ; a circum- 
 flance that gave me great pleafure, as it fliewed that thefe 
 people were in general poflefled of good and grateful hearts; 
 
 though
 
 C A PE OF GO O D H O P E. igj 
 
 though ingratitude, I am very forry to fay it, is a crime, ,^^^^' 
 by no means rarely to be met with among men. v,^v^ 
 
 While I relided in the interior part of Africa, I was 
 fhewn a bird's -nefl, which feveral farmers aflured me was 
 that of the bee-cuckow. It refembled the nefts of certain 
 finches, which are found in thofe parts, and was formed of 
 iine flireds of bark, interwoven and plaited together in the 
 fhape of a bottle. The neck or aperture of it hung down- 
 w^ards, and a plaited cord, made of the fame kind of bark 
 as the neft, hung, as it were, in a fwing, crofs-wife, over 
 and below the opening, being faftened by both ends to the 
 brim of this fame aperture, and was certainly intended for 
 the bird to reft itfelf and rooft upon. 
 
 The following defcription of this bird was drawn up 
 from the two which I fhot, and which were fuppofed to 
 be hens ; for the cock is faid to have its neck {capijlrum) 
 encircled with a black ring. 
 
 Roftrum crqffiufculum^ verftis bafin fufcum, apice luteum, 
 Angulus oris ujque infra oculos ex ten/us, Nares pojiremce 
 ad baft7t Roftri, fuprema vicince^ ut car inula dorjali faltem 
 fepararentur^ oblongce^ jnargine prominulo. Pili aliquot ad 
 baftn Roftri, pracipue in mandibula inferiore ; Lingua plana 
 jubfagittata. Oculorum Irides ferrugineo-gxi{Q'3d ; Palpebrae 
 nuclcB^ nigra. Pedes nigri fcanforii\ Tibise brevis^ Ungues 
 tenueSy nigri, Pileus late grifeus e pennis brevibus latiufcu- 
 lis, Gula, Jugulum, Pe6tus, fordide alba^ cum aliquo vi- 
 vere vix notabili in peSlore. Dorfum & Uropygium ferru- 
 gineo'grijea. Abdomen Criflumque alba. Femora tecfta 
 pennis albis^ macula longitudinali nigra notatis. Alarum 
 Tedlrices Superiores, omnes grifeo-fufca exceptis Jummis 
 
 aliquot^
 
 192 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^776. aliquot, qua flavis aptcibus formant, maculum flavam in 
 C^!^^ burner is exlguam &' a plumis fcapularibus f(^pe te&ajn, 
 Tedlrices infra alarm albidce, harum Supremas ex albido nigro- 
 que jnaculatcE^ Remiges Primarii 8, R. Secundarii 6, R. 
 OvciWQsfupra fufci^ fubtus ci?iereo fufci, A\xx\?egrifeo-fufcce', 
 Cauda cu7ieiformis, re&ricihus 1 2 : harum duce intermedicB 
 longiores angujliores^ fupra ^ infra ceruginojo-fujcce ; proxi- 
 mce duce fuUginofce^ margine interiore alb!cantes\ Ducz 
 utrinque his proximce alba: apice fufcce, &f exterius ad hafm 
 macula nigra notatce : extima utrinque reliquis brevior. Alba 
 apice fujca, macula nigra vix ulla ad hzfin. Alae complicates 
 caud(Z partem quartem attingunt* Longitudo ab apice 
 Rojiriy ad extremam Caudce circiter feptem uncias pedis An- 
 glic ani explet, Roffcrum a bafi fuperiore ad apicem femi- 
 unciale. 
 
 Since my defcription of the cuculus indicator was print- 
 ed in the PhiL I'ranf, I have feen in Lobo's Travels to 
 Abyffinia, publifhed by le Grand in 1728, (a book to 
 which I was referred by M. B. Bergius, one of the direc- 
 tors of the bank,) and a gentleman of extenlive reading, 
 the following account, which deferves to be quoted here 
 verbatim. 
 
 ** The jnoroc, or honey-bird, is furnifhed with a pecu- 
 liar inftin6t, or faculty of difcovering honey. They have 
 here multitudes of various kinds, fome are tame like ours, 
 and form their combs in hives : of the wild ones fome 
 place their honey in hollow trees, others hide it in holes 
 in the ground, which they keep extremely clean, and at 
 the fame time cover fo carefully, that though they are 
 commonly in the highway, they are feldom found, unlefs 
 
 by
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 193 
 
 by the ;/?^r^<fV affiflance. The honey thus prepared un- »776- 
 
 J . January. 
 
 der ground, is to the full as good as that which is made v,*^^v-v/ 
 in hives : I have only found it a little blacker ; and cannot 
 help imagining it to be the fame, with that which St. John 
 lived on in the wildernefs. When the rnoroc has difcover- 
 td any honey, he repairs immediately to the road-lide, and 
 when he fees a traveller, lings and claps his wings, making 
 many motions to invite him to follow him ; and when he 
 perceives him coming, flies before him from tree to tree, 
 till he comes to the place where the bees have flored 
 their treafure, and then begins to ling melodioully. The 
 AbylTin takes the honey, without failing to leave part of 
 it for the bird, to reward him for his information." 
 
 There is good reafon to fuppofe from this palTage, that 
 the moroc of Abyllinia and the bee- cuckoo ^ which I have 
 defcribed above, are one and the fame bird ; but if this 
 be the cafe, it fliould feem, that Father Lobo himfelf had 
 not been an eye-witnefs of this lingular kind of chafe, or 
 elfe that he has not given an accurate defcription of it. 
 Neither, indeed, have I ever found the honey which has 
 been made under-ground, blacker than that which comes 
 out of the hives; but on the contrary, full as good as any 
 other honey whatever, that in the defert particularly hav- 
 ing a finer flavour than any I ever tailed. Though as de- 
 licacies did not greatly abound here, and I was obliged to 
 live chiefly on animal food, I cannot place any great de- 
 pendence upon the nicenefs of my tafte at that time. My 
 Hottentots, and even two of the colonifts, ate likewife the 
 young bees and the honey-comb itfelf, or the nefl, looking 
 upon it as the molt deUcate part of the whole. The honey 
 
 Vol. II. C c here
 
 194 
 
 A VOY/VGE TO THE 
 
 »776- here wns fine and mellow, and appeared, without having 
 ^^^^^ undergone any purification whatever, to be tolerably free 
 from wax. — I neither faw nor heard of any one in all Afri- 
 ca that kept tame bees, excepting in the country about Con- 
 flantia, where a young lad, the fon of a colonifl, ufed 
 fometimes to fet out empty chefts and boxes, into which 
 a wild fwarm would enter without fail in the fpace of a 
 few days and fettle ; but the hive was generally taken al- 
 moft immediately by this greedy amateur, and was like- 
 wife partly Itolen by liquorilh flaves, among whom thofe 
 who were natives of Madagafcar had a particular knack at 
 finding wild bees and honey. As in the trads of country 
 laft-mentioned, beiides other flowers, there grow in par- 
 ticular many different forts of heaths, the culture of bees 
 might in thefe places be carried to a very great height. 
 Near the Cape I found the wild honey of an inferior quali- 
 ty. Whether this proceeded from the great abundance of 
 heath in the abov^-mentioned diflriils, or from my being 
 more faftidious and nice when I was at the latter place, I 
 am not able to determine. 
 
 The jerhua Capenfis, which I enumerated a little above at 
 page 1 80 among the animals in the ruins of whofe fubterra- 
 neous dwellings the bees, in default of trees fit for their pur- 
 pofe, build their nefts, is defcribed by Dr. J. R. Forster in 
 the Swedifli Tranfa6lions for 1778, page 108, with fome re- 
 marks of mine annexed, 1. c. page 119. On this head 
 likewife, the reader may confult the compilation referred to 
 above, called Nouv, Defcript, &c. together with M. Pal- 
 LAs's de Murium Genere, P^S^ 87, in which book it was 
 afterwards referred to under the denomination of the mus 
 
 ' 'Caffer.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 195 
 
 Caff'er. By the colonifts it is called bero-baas^ or fprin^- , ^776- 
 
 jj J <;b ' -'J o January. 
 
 baas^, (the mountain or bounding hare) and lives upon V-^^-*^ 
 roots and other vegetables, his principal haunts being in 
 the vicinity of Stellen-bofcb and Camdebo, It is nearly of 
 the lize and colour of a common hare, but its hind legs, 
 by means of which it is faid to be able to take a leap twenty 
 feet in length, are much longer and llenderer ; its fore legs, 
 on the other hand, are extremely fliort, the animal feldom 
 fupporting itfelf upon them, being generally in a fitting 
 pofture, and ufing them as hands to convey the food to its 
 mouth. It is likewife able, with great expedition, by means 
 of its fore paws, and with the afliflance of its long pro- 
 jedling teeth, to dig holes for itfelf and paiTages under 
 ground; though it does not by any means experience the 
 greateft degree of fecurity in this afylum, on account of 
 the dykes and cuts made by the colonics to their corn- 
 fields and plantations, which likewife find their way into 
 thefe fubterraneous pafTages ; fo that the jerhuas^ which 
 are thus in danger of being drowned in their own habita- 
 tions, are obliged to evacuate them with the greateft pre- 
 cipitation, in confequence of which they are frequently 
 purfued and taken. 
 
 Where the inhabitants of this country have an oppor- 
 tunity (that of a neighbouring mountain, for inftance) of 
 making the dykes and iluices here alluded to, they do not 
 omit by means of them to drown the moles likewife, as 
 they are called, which infeft this colony, and which are, 
 in fa(5l, a kind of rat with fhort tails. The one fort is lefs 
 than the other, but is moft common round about the Cape\ 
 and from the white fpots on its head is called bleefinol^ and 
 
 C c 2 is
 
 196 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '776. is the WMf Capenfisoi MefTrs. Pennant, Schreber, andPAL- 
 
 January. -r ^ 
 
 V^ynJ las, and the long-toothed marmot of Mr. Brown, page 
 112, Plate XL VI. which plate exhibits a coloured repre- 
 fentation of this animal ; but the figure, which is the fame 
 with that in the compilation we have frequently referred 
 to, as well as with that in Buffon's Supplement, Tom. III. 
 is not remarkably good. 
 
 The other fpecies, which is called the zand-mol^ is the 
 mus Africanus of Mr. Pennant. This is in every part 
 fhaped like the former, but is without any fpots ; and 
 though of a moufe colour, is of a lighter hue, its tail being 
 in proportion equally fhort with that of the other, but flat- 
 tended both at top and underneath, though furniflied with 
 hairs ilanding out in the fame manner. It bears a great 
 refemblance to the figure of the mus talpinus in Pallas 
 and ScHREBER, but differs from that animal in having a 
 eompreiTed tail, as I have juft before mentioned; as likewife 
 with refpedl to its body, which I have found to meafure a 
 foot at the higheft, though even then it was twice or thrice 
 as big as the mus Capenjlsy or the mus talpi?tus, Thefe two 
 different fpecies, the mus Caffer and. the mus Capenfis^ are 
 very troublefome vermin, particularly in orchards and vine- 
 yards; and are caught with fnares, which fall upon them at 
 the apertures of their holes, and are likewife frequently kiiied 
 with piftols, which flioot them through the body,, on their 
 touching in the flighteft manner a thread tied to the trigger; 
 The mus Caffer is particularly unwieldy and clumfy in its 
 make, and is confequently flow in running, making its ef- 
 cape with difficulty when it is found near its neil:; though,, 
 oa the other hand, when it is laid hold on, it tlirows the 
 
 anterior
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 197 
 
 anterior part of its body about to the rig-ht and left with , '"76- 
 
 •*■ ' '-' January. 
 
 great adlivity and alertnefs, in order to fallen upon its ene- v^'v^**/ 
 my with its teeth. In this particular I have, as well as 
 many of the colonills, difcovered a great refemblance be- 
 tween the rhinoceros and the fand-mole, which, indeed, 
 proceeds merely from the fmallnefs of the eyes and obfcurity 
 of viHon in both thefe animals. 
 
 The talpa JJiatica, Linn, the talpa Slberica of Pen- 
 nant, Seba, and Klein ; the talpa aurea of Brisson, 
 Pallas, and Schreber; and xh.^ variable mole of Brown, 
 are one and the fame animal, which comes from the Cape ; 
 and which not only has been erroneouily attributed to Si- 
 beria, but likewife, on account of the number and fhape 
 of its teeth being unknown, has been hitherto improperly 
 referred to the mole genus; though, in fa<5l, it belongs to 
 that of the Jhrew or forex^ as plainly appears from the 
 following defcription of the teeth, which I made after a 
 fpecimen I brought home from the Cape preferved in fpi- 
 rits. Denies fuperiores anteriores 2 cuneati, approximati. 
 D. inferiores anteriores 4 fubulati, horum intermediis bre- 
 vloribus. D. later ales in utraque maxilla utrinque 7, ho- 
 rum duobus feu 3 ; bus prioribus fimpliciufculis, acutis, 
 interiohbus feu poller. 2 feu 3 ; bus furcatis, cufpide ex- 
 timo majore. This animal may therefore for the future 
 be called Sorex aureus^ cauda nulla^ rojlro nudo brevi^ palmis 
 fub 4 daclylisy plantis 5 daSfylis, I {aj fub-tetra-daS^ylis^ as 
 this creature has, on the outlide of its three crooked claws 
 which Hand behind each other, a very fmall fpur, or Ihorter 
 kind of claw proje6ting, which the naturalifts above- 
 mentioned did not obferve, and which might eaiily induce 
 
 thena
 
 198 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '776. them very improperly to augment the catalogue of the 
 
 January. . '' . 
 
 ^^-y-O animal creation with one animal more than really exiits 
 in it. 
 
 This creature is five or fix inches in length, its fnout 
 is lliort and without any hair upon it, notwithftanding 
 which the upper lip is hairy. The colour, which in 
 other refpedls is exceedingly beautiful, is continually vary- 
 ing, as ScHREBER has remarked, page 563, between green, 
 brown, and gold. In Peter Brown's llluftrations of 
 Zoology, page no. Plate XLV. there is a tolerable co- 
 loured drawing of this animal ; the caft, however, of this 
 colour bordering upon gold, is not exprefled with a fuffi- 
 cient degree of accuracy and beauty ; neither is the leaft 
 notice taken of the fourth fmall or external claw. 
 
 To the query which M. Pallas {de Murium Genere) 
 propofes at page 154^ in the notes, I anfwer, that this 
 creature, in fa6l, has eyes, but they are fo fmall that they 
 were not eafily to be difcerned in the animal juft after it 
 was fliot ; and in the fpecimen I have preferved in fpirits,- 
 could not be feen at all till I had fcripped the fkin from off 
 the head. They are placed in the center of a llrait line> 
 conceived to be drawn from the noftrils to the ears. Again, 
 thefe latter are in the fame horizontal line with the fauces, 
 the apertures of them being pretty wide externally, but 
 internally almoft imperceptible. This creature has no laps 
 to its ears. 
 
 It will be mofl fuitable in this place to enum^erate and 
 give a farther defcription of the African gazels all toge- 
 ther, partly as I have juft been defcribing feveral other 
 animals, and partly as by follovvdng the order of my jour- 
 7 nal
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 199 
 
 nal in this particular, I lliould be liable to make frequent 1776. 
 
 January. 
 
 repetitions. v^^^v-sj 
 
 The bartbeeji^ of which I have already made frequent 
 mention in the courfe of this work, (viz. page 129, 131, 
 270, 345, Vol. I. and page 4, i 2, 1 3, 1 8,Vol. II.) is the molt 
 common of all the larger gazels which are to be met with at 
 Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ or indeed in the whole colony, and 
 in all probability in any part of Africa. Thefe animals 
 moflly keep together in herds of different magnitudes, 
 though one does not unfrequently fee them wandering 
 about in a folitary ftate. I have often had occasion to hunt 
 and llioot them, and made the drawing annexed (vide Plate 
 I. of this Vol.) from one that I had juft fliot. Without 
 wifliing in the leail to depreciate the labours of others, I 
 find myfelf necellitated to refer my readers to this, as be- 
 ing the only figure hitherto publifned, which exhibits the 
 leaft refemblance of this animal. 
 
 The greatefl height of this animal, which is from the 
 fore feet to the withers, fomewhat exceeds four feet. 
 The horns, (which are common to both fexes,) meafured 
 along the exterior curvature, are from iix to nine inches 
 long, and of a black colour all over, being of the fame 
 nature in general as thofe of the gazel kind. The colonifts 
 make handfome fpoons of them, though the gnu's horns 
 are reckoned to have the finefl grain, as well as the blackefl 
 hue, and iikewife to take the beft polifn. With refpecfl 
 to other particulars, the horns of this animal Hand upon a 
 fmall protuberance of the cranium, with their bafes almoil 
 quite clofe together, diverging as they go upwards continually 
 more and more from each other, as far as to one third of 
 
 their
 
 iOO 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 "^n^- their whole length ; when proceeding: farther on to two 
 
 January. ■>■ o 
 
 K.^y^j thirds of their whole length, they lean a little inwards or 
 towards each other, at the fame time making a bend back- 
 wards ; fo that the uppermofl or laft divilion, which is 
 fmooth and even, goes backwards very nearly in a hori- 
 zontal direction, yet fo that the tips turn a little down- 
 wards. Thefe horns from their bafes upwards, as far as 
 to two thirds of their length, are emboffed in the form of 
 rings, which are about eighteen in number, and near the 
 bafes of the horns are not elevated more than half a line 
 or a line above the furface beneath; but higher up, or 
 near and upon the curvatures of the horns, thefe rings are 
 not only much larger, viz. from a quarter to half an inch, 
 but like wife feem to be more irregular, fome of them 
 forming knobs, while others take a fpiral turn. All thefe 
 rings or elevations are fmooth in other refpedls, but be- 
 tween them there is a number of longitudinal furrows. 
 
 The predominant colour in the hartbeeft is cinnamon 
 colour, but the forehead is covered with black hairs, which, 
 with a fmall admixture of brown, lie in a whirl. Two 
 inches below this begins an oblong black fpot, which ex- 
 tends quite down to the noftrils ; the lower lip alfo, and 
 the fore part of the fhoulders are covered Avith black hairs, 
 as are likewife the anterior part of the fore legs quite down 
 to the hoofs, thefe black hairs being at the fame time car- 
 ried round them, and rifmg behind up to the fetlock-joints. 
 This black colour is difperfed nearly in the fame manner 
 on the fore parts of the hind legs, and between the fet- 
 lock-joints and the hoofs behind. A good deal of the 
 hindmoft part of the haunch is covered with a wide black 
 
 ftreak,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 201 
 
 rtreak, which reaches down to the knee, as may be feen /776. 
 
 'J January. 
 
 in the figure annexed. There are two narrow flripes, ^•y^J 
 which take their rife one behind each ear, and afterwards 
 run together all along the ridge of the neck. From hence 
 a dark brown oval fpot extends over the whole ridge of the 
 back, terminating with its broader and obtufer end juft 
 above the tail, which is flender, and, at the flrfl glance, 
 has the appearance of an afs's tail. The hairs of this begin 
 high up, being black, and nearly of the nature of briftles, 
 and rather pointing outwards than hanging down; the 
 outermofl, which are the longeft, being fcarcely fix inches 
 long. The upper and hind parts of the haunches are of a 
 pale yellow colour, as well as the anterior and upper edge 
 of them, the infide of them, and the belly. The poflerior 
 parts of the fore legs are likewife of a fomewhat lighter 
 hue than the cinnamon colour above-mentioned, which 
 covers every other part of the animal. 
 
 There is a pore one line in diameter, an inch or an inch 
 and a half below and before the internal angle of the eye. 
 From this pore, which is the aperture of a caruncle that 
 lies below, there is fecreted a matter almoft like ear-wax, 
 which I obferved my Hottentots kept in a piece of fkin, 
 as a rare and excellent medicine ; on the dried fkin of the 
 animal, this pore is fcarcely to be difcerned. This, perhaps, 
 is the reafon, that fo great and accurate a zoologift as M. 
 Pallas makes no mention of this pore, as he made his de- 
 fcriptions chiefly from the dried flvins of this animal ; and 
 as to the live hartbeefl which he faw, he could not fo eafily 
 come at it, fo as to take notice of its pore. The rudiments 
 of a beard or whifkers, mentioned by M. Pallas as being 
 
 Vol. II. D d on
 
 202 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. on each fide of the black fpot on the under lip, may like- 
 \^^^!^ wife be feen on the fkin of the hartbeeft which I brought 
 home with me. This animal is defcribed by M. Pallas, 
 in Fafc. I. p. 12, No. XVI. and Fafc. XII. No. XIII. p. 
 1 6 of his Spicilegia Zoologica^ under the denominatioa of 
 the ant Hope biibalis\. but in \h.^SyJlema Natura^ it has been 
 previoufly taken notice of by the name of capra dorcas : 
 wherefore I choofe to keep this fpecific name, for the fake 
 of avoiding confufion ; at the fame time in conformity to 
 the well-founded opinion of M. Pallas, referring the dor- 
 cas to the antilope or gazel genus. The huh alts of the an- 
 cients was probably the fame animal with our hartbeefts, 
 and fo is the vache de B,arbarie^ defcribed in the Mem, pour 
 fervir a rHiJl, desAnhnaux^ Part II. p. 24. The figure given 
 there, Tab. XXXIX. is, it is true, not a perfect likenefs of 
 the antilope dorcas ; but being very indifferent likewife in 
 other refpe61:s, may, with fome degree of probability, be 
 fuppofed to reprefent this animal. The defcription, how- 
 ever, contained in the following paffage, 1. c. does not cor- 
 refpond quite fo wtU with the hartbeeft's hair, viz. Foil 
 roux^ plus pale vers la poitrine^ que vers la racincy prefque 
 de mime grojjeur vers le point que vers la racine. It feems 
 to be merely this paffage that has occafioned M. Buffon, 
 Tom. XII. p. 296, under the article huhaly to confound the 
 hartbeeft with the animal which Ko lb e called the elk ; though 
 at the fame time he evidently gives a different defcription 
 of the latter, viz. that it is of an afli colour, &c. &c. 
 
 The hair of the hartbeeft is particularly fine, and about an 
 inch in length, and in other refpedls refembling that of harts 
 and gazels. The ears are covered with white hair on the 
 
 infide.
 
 C A P E OF G O O D II O P E. 203 
 
 iiifide. This animal has no teeth, exccptino; in the lower '^76- 
 jaw. Thefe are eight in number ; thofe in the middle are \^^-^ 
 the broadeil, and they are like wife broader at the top than 
 they are near the bafe ; thus in number, as well as other 
 properties, entirely refembling the teeth of the ^/?//. The 
 legs are rather flender, with fmall fetlocks and hoofs. M. 
 Pennant, in his Synopfis of ^^adrupeds, p. 37, and in his 
 Hifiojy of ^mdrupeds^ p. 90, calls this beaft the cervine a?i- 
 tilope\ and fuppofes that M, Forskal, by the baker uafcb 
 of the Arabians, which he places among the animals of a 
 genus hitherto undetermined, means this creature. Mr. 
 HouTTUYN likewife, by the defcription and miferable draw- 
 ing he has given us in Vol. III. p, 213, Plate XXIV. pro- 
 bably means the Jmrtbeeji, One may eafily fee that this 
 figure has fome affinity with the te7namaqama of Seba, 
 Vol. I. Tab. XLIII. which is likewife very properly referred 
 to by M. Pallas for the hartbeeft; but I now find that Mr. 
 Pennant looks upon this to be his Senegal antilope : the 
 defcription, however, does not feem to agree fo v/ell with 
 the figure of Seha there referred to, as withM. de Buffon's 
 of the thoba^ Tab. XXXII. fig. 2, to which he refers like- 
 wife. The fkeleton and cranium given by M. de Buffon 
 in Vol. XII. Tab. XXXVII and XXXVIII. under the deno- 
 mination of thofe of the bubal^ belong to the hartbeefl; and 
 from hence it appears, that the horns are apt to vary in 
 this animal. May not, therefore, the Senegal and cervine 
 antilopes of Mr. Pennant be, in fadf, one and the fame 
 animal ? Indeed, though I have found the horns of the 
 hartbeefl differ from each other pretty much in their ex- 
 ternal furface, yet it appeared to me that the pofition of 
 
 D d 2 them
 
 204 ^ VOYAGE TO the 
 
 , ^77^' them was very conftant in the very conliderable number of 
 
 January. "^ 
 
 ^•Y^ them that I have feen in Africa. The head of the figure 
 here* annexed, is rather too fmall in proportion to the 
 body ; a miflake which happened, in the redudlion of the 
 drawing from a larger to a lefler fcale '''■. 
 
 The large head and high fore-hand, together with the 
 afinine ears and tail of the hartbeefl, render it one of the 
 leaft handfome of the whole tribe of antilopes. Its pace, 
 when at full fpeed, appears like a heavy gallop ; notwith- 
 ftanding which, it runs as fait as any of the other large an- 
 tilopes. When it has in the leafl got a-head of its pur- 
 fuers, it is more apt than almoft any other gazel to turn 
 rovind frequently while it is flying, and, making a ftand, 
 flare them full in the face. I have already made mention, 
 at page 1 3 2 of this Volume, of its falling on its knees, like 
 the ^nu, when it goes to butt any one. The fiefh of it is of 
 a fine grain, and rather dry, but yet of a rather agreeable 
 high flavour. It is at leafl not fo coarfe and dry as that of 
 the hunte-bok. M. de Buffon, who, at page 298, feems 
 defirous of feparating the hartbeeft from the gazel, goat, and 
 all other genera, will, perhaps, now be induced, by what has 
 been jufl mentioned, to allow that it ought rather to be re- 
 ferred to the gazel or antilope kind. 
 
 Elandy or Kaapfe Eland, (the Cape elk) vide Plate I. Vol. 
 II. is a name given by the colonifls to a fpecies of gazel which 
 is fomewhat larger and clumfier, though, upon the whole, 
 handfomer than the hartbeefi, I have already had occafion in 
 Vol. I. page 131? and Vol. II. page 70,96,1 16, j 30, to make 
 
 ■* This defeat is remedied in the prefent edition. 
 
 mention 
 
 I
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 205 
 
 mention of this animal, and have ^iven a defcription and 1776- 
 drawing of it in the Swedifli Tranfa6lions for 1779. ^^^ V^vO 
 one of the places above referred to, I have mentioned, that 
 it is called by the CafFres empofos ; I have lince found in 
 my manufcript notes, that it is likewife called by the fame 
 Xi'aXion poffo^ and by the Hottentots fgann. There has not 
 been hitherto given any fatisfadlory defcription or drawing 
 of this rare animal, as before this it had never been feen 
 by any naturaiift. 
 
 Mr. Pennant, in the new edition of his excellent Hif- 
 tory of Quadrupeds, Vol. I. page 70, has perfe6lly well 
 comprehended my meaning in the Swedifli Tranfa6lions ; 
 but, as well as M. Pallas, in his SpiciL ZooL Fafcic, XII. 
 p. II, has been led by Kolbe into the error of fixing 
 the habitation of the Gape elk in mountainous trails ; 
 (vide Fafc. I. Plate XVI.) an error, which has occafioned 
 that great zoologift, M. Pallas, who had before in Fafc. 
 I. 1. c. made mention of this animal by the name of 
 oryx^ to change it for that of orcas^ (vide Fafc. XII. page 
 5, II, 17,) and afterwards gave the name of oryx to ano- 
 ther animal ; a circumllance which it were to be wiflied 
 could be avoided, on account of the confufion in which the 
 multitude of names, and more efpecially the alterations of 
 them, muft neceffarily involve the fcience of natural hif- 
 tory. After all, however, the fadl is this, that the elk 
 antilope, like the other large fpecies of the gazel kind, lives 
 on the plains and in vallies, inflead of the high mountains, 
 whither Kolbe has fent it, and up which this animal in 
 particular would in all probability be too heavy and un- 
 wieldy to climb. The Comte deBuFFON, Tom. XII. Tab. 
 
 XLVI.
 
 2o6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '77^- LXVI. p. 37 S, has delineated the horns extremely well, 
 iji^^i^ but has very improperly afcribed them to the coudou (Belgis 
 koedoe) which is quite a different animal, and of which we 
 fliall fay more hereafter. 
 
 The figure annexed at Plate I. Vol. II. I had an opportu- 
 nity, in my journey homewards, of drawing from a live elk, 
 which had been caught while it was yet a fawn ; but though 
 it was not quite grown up, and though it was permitted to 
 go loole day and night without the leaft reilraint or confine- 
 iTient, yet it never went away, but kept very near to man- 
 kind, and about the farm : whence it appears, how eafy 
 it would be to domefticate this fpecies of gazel, which, in 
 its tame ftate, might be more ferviceable than either horfes 
 or oxen, and, in a great meafure, perform the offices for 
 w^hich both thefe animals are ufed; efpecially as this beafl 
 is faid to keep up its flefli without taking much food, for 
 the moft part contenting itfelf with flirubs and buflies, 
 which the land is more inclined to produce than grafs. It 
 appeared to me, that the hair in the fore-top and on the fore- 
 head was longer in this than in the three old ones which I 
 faw fliot ; on the other hand, this wanted the fmall eleva- 
 tion, or knob, which the others, and particularly one of 
 them, had betwxen and behind their horns. 
 
 This beafl is of an afli-colour, inclining a little towards 
 blue, excepting the following parts, which are quite black, 
 viz. the tuft at the end of the tail, the fkin between the 
 fetlocks and the hoofs, and the thin ere6t mane, which 
 extends from the nape of the animal's neck along the fpine 
 of its back. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 207 
 
 The horns of this creature, when it is full grown, are two ^l^^^' 
 feet long, and of a dark brown colour, being twifled, or form- ^^v^-^ 
 ing a very confpicuous wreath half way up from the bafe, in 
 which they have three fides and three ridges or ribs, fepa- 
 rated by the fides from each other ; the horns afterwards be- 
 come round and ftraight, excepting that the tips of them are 
 gradually turned a little fowards and inwards. The hind- 
 moft ridge near the bafe becomes, in the middle of the 
 writhen part of the horn, the middlemofl ridge, and the 
 m.ofl raifed; but at its termination again becoming the hind- 
 moil:, gradually decreafes, and vaniflies at the back of the 
 upper half of the horn. The interior and anterior edge 
 is the mofl obtufe of any, and in fome is quite rounded 
 off; the exterior and anterior likewife terminates at top, 
 outwards and forwards, fomewhat higher than the others. 
 At the bottom of all, near the bafes of the horn, there ap- 
 pears feveral irregular fcabrous and oblique rings, which 
 are tolerably well exprefTed in the figure of the tobacco 
 horn given in Plate I. Vol. I. fig. 3 ; but after this, the 
 fibres of the horn take a fpiral form, running over and 
 parallel with the above-defcribed twifted angles and fides of 
 the horn, though in feveral places a half ring or fcabrous 
 inequality going acrofs them is difcoverable. The forehead 
 of this animal is fiat, and tolerably broad at top, in propor- 
 tion to what it is lower down about the eyes, where it be- 
 comes very narrow. It has a foretop flanding ere6l, the length 
 of its whole forehead. Its nofe is fiiarp and pointed. Its 
 breail: is covered with a pa/earey or loofe fkin, with long hair. 
 
 This animal has a great deal of fat, efpecially about the 
 
 heart : from an old male which we gave chafe to and fliLOt, 
 
 2 we
 
 2o8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 , ^776- we 2:ot fuch a quantity of fine and tender fat, as we could 
 
 January. o •»■ ^ 
 
 ^•vO with difficulty get into a box that would hold about ten 
 pounds of butter. As at the commencement of our jour- 
 ney homewards through the defert, the hounds we had 
 with us had unluckily devoured our flock of butter, a far- 
 mer, who Itill accompanied us, fhewed us how to prepare 
 the fat from about the heart of the elk, and to ufe it for 
 dreffing victuals with, and for eating on bread in the fame 
 manner as is generally pradlifed with goofe-greafe and 
 hogs-lard. The tafte of it alfo was very fimilar to thefe, 
 and to the full as good ; and, indeed, if I may be fuppofed 
 to have been able to form any judgment of the matter at a 
 time when we were fo fharp fet, and in abfolute want of 
 any thing elfe of the kind, it w^as rather better. The 
 breaft is likewife extremely fat, and is always looked upon 
 as a great delicacy. The flefli is univerfally of a finer 
 grain, more juicy and better tailed than that of the hart- 
 beeji. When the elk-antilopes are hunted, they always run, 
 if poffible, againfl the wind, even though the hunter himfelf 
 iliould come from that fide, and attempt to drive them back.- 
 I have myfelf feen a moft evident inllance of this, when on 
 a hunting party with three others. In fadl, it is fi.ippofed, 
 that being very fat and purfy, they find it eafier to fetch 
 their breath when they run againfi: the wind. They mofl- 
 ly keep together in large herds, and were fuppofed to 
 migrate nov/ and then to the fouthward, like the Ipring- 
 boks, when any great drought, or failure with refpe6l to 
 rain and water, happens in the interior or northern parts 
 of Africa. Juft before our departure from ^gter Bruntjes- 
 hoogtey fome Hottentots arrived there with the news, that 
 
 they
 
 C A PE OF GO O D H O P E. 209 
 
 they had feen, between the two Vifch-riviers^ an infinite '776- 
 
 £•11 1-1 n January. 
 
 number or elks, w^hich juft at that place turned back again ^^-^-O 
 and made towards the north. This piece of intelligence 
 was in probability very true ; for on our return home- 
 wards, we found feveral fpots, which before wxre green 
 and covered with herbage, grazed off quite bare, and al- 
 moft as much beaten and trampled under foot, as a place 
 of encampment for cavalry. It was imagined, that fuch 
 large herds as thefe, either would not deign to make wav 
 for any huntfmen on horfeback, or elfe that the foremoll 
 of them could not avoid making fome refiftance, on ac- 
 count of thofe in the rear preffing upon them. If this 
 were the cafe, it would have been a great misfortune for 
 our fmall party to have met with this army of quadrupeds, 
 as they would, in all probability, have jumped over our 
 heads and trod us under foot, in cafe we had not had time or 
 room enough to have got on one fide out of their way. The 
 male elks, w^hich are rather aged, and confequently flow and 
 tardy, keep apart from the reft of the herd ; and are generally 
 fo fat and heavy, as, in cafe of being chafed, to tire imme- 
 diately on the firft onfet. And indeed, of the elk fpecies, 
 the males are always the fatteft and largeft in the herd, and 
 have evidently a fuller neck than the others ; it is like- 
 wife thefe, that the hunter fmgles out and is lure to come 
 up with firft. I have been aiTured by feveral people, that 
 fome of the younger and fleeter, but at the fame time fat- 
 ter fort of bucks, will fometimes, when they are hard run, 
 drop down dead during the chafe; and that melted fat, as 
 it were, together with the blood, would at that time guOi 
 GwS. of their noftrils. 
 
 Vol. II. E e Beini>-
 
 210 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776- Being on a hunting-party on our way home, and ob* 
 
 vJ^-Y^ ferving a young buck of the elk-antilope fpecies, a farmer 
 who was along with us, fent off his fon, a lad about twen- 
 ty years old, as being the lighteft, as w^ell as the beft 
 mounted of us all, to give chafe to it ; and by fo doing, pro- 
 cured me likewife no fmall degree of pleafure, as long as 
 I could get to view the chafe, which was for the fpace of 
 more than a quarter of an hour. In confequence of their 
 diflance from me, and the great rate at which they went, 
 the legs of the horfe, as well as thofe of the elk, being 
 fcarcely perceptible, both the fportfman and his game feem- 
 ed to fwim, or fail, as it were, over the hills and plains, 
 while they were mutually endeavouring to get to the wind- 
 ward of each other. In fadt, the young huntfman had 
 more than once the advantage in this point ; but in order 
 to prolong the pleafure of the chafe, and buoyed up by 
 the ambitious hopes of being able to tire out his game, and 
 afterwards drive it back to us, he purpofely neglected feveral 
 opportunities that offered of jumping off his horfe, (as the 
 fportfmen here are ufed to do) and fliooting the flying foe. 
 Befides, the air was now tolerably calm ; and in this cafe, the 
 animal in general does not ftrive fo pertinacioufly to get to the 
 wdnd ward of its purfuers, as at other times ; fo that there have 
 been inftances known of fpirited and expert fportfmen who, 
 to their fingular fatisfa6lion, as well as for the fake of greater 
 convenience, have hunted elks and other gazels, and driven 
 them back, for many miles together, from the open plains, 
 on to their own doors, before they have thought it worth 
 while to fire their pieces at them. But to return to our 
 fportfman ; in the fpace of about two hours he comes back, 
 3 wearied
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 211 
 
 wearied and confufed, and pleading in his excufe that, hav- *776. 
 
 '^ ' January. 
 
 ing fired at the beaft and wounded it, though not mortal- V•^-v; 
 ly, it had efcaped into a clofe thicket, while he was occu- 
 pied in adjufting his faddle, which had got loofe ; together 
 with other excufes of that nature. He likewife added, that 
 while he was chafing the animal, he could plainly perceive 
 a bloody froth exfuding from its neck, along with the white 
 foam which appears on moft animals on their being hard 
 run. This exfudation, or fweating of blood, does not ap- 
 pear to me in the leaft improbable ; however, I will not 
 by any means pledge myfeif for the truth of it ; as, being 
 fo very unufual a circumflance, it mufl have been feen at 
 a fmaller diflance, and confirmed by the teflimony of feve- 
 ral, before it could be thought credible. Every body, how- 
 ever, in this country w^as firmly of opinion, (and, as it 
 appears to me, not without reafon) that although game of 
 this kind, and hunted almolt as hard as this, might efcape 
 for the prefent, they would however foon after grow ftiff 
 in their joints and die; or at leaft be fo difabled, that the 
 next time they were chafed either by fportfmen or wild 
 beafts, they would the eafier become a prey to them. The 
 cafe is quite otherwife with horfes,which are prevented by their 
 mafters from drinking, or from being otherwife cooled toofoon, 
 when they are warm. Neverthelefs, almoft all horfes which 
 have been much ufed in hunting, are pretty much fpavin- 
 ed, and fometimes are very llifF in their joints, and flow in 
 their paces, till, previoufly to their being taken out a - 
 hunting again, they have been rode out a little, and their 
 limbs, by this means, rendered pliable. One of our com- 
 pany had a large horfe, but as thin as a grey-hound, which 
 
 E e 2 was
 
 CtI2 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776- was very much foundered. This horfe, however, when 
 Ci^^^ it had got warm, was one of the fwifteft I ever fet eyes on. 
 Neither are thefe hunting-parties without their difficul- 
 ties, and even danger for the hunters themfelves; as befides 
 that they cannot help fometimes being carried by their horfes 
 through coppices and thickets, (in which cafe their legs are 
 fcratched, and the fkirts of their coats torn by the buflies) 
 and are obliged to leap over pits and rivulets, neither can 
 they entirely avoid linking now and then into the holes 
 and fubterraneous pafTages, which are dug in the earth by 
 the various kinds of animals I have defcribed above. In. 
 chafing the elk-antilope near little FiJIj river in our way 
 home on the firft of February, I had the misfortune to 
 have my horfe, which was galloping full fpeed, link into 
 the ground with his fore feet ; in confequence of which he, 
 as it appeared to me and my companions in the chafe, 
 tumbled over head and heel, {^gat over de kop.) I my- 
 felf was thrown, with my gun in my hand, to a great 
 diftance from him, and was particularly hurt in both my 
 wriils, of which I had not the perfe6l ufe for a long time. 
 The gun, though it was cocked, did not go off in the fall. 
 As ibon as my horfe came up, he galloped home again to 
 our waggons, which were in fight, fo that I had the ad- 
 ditional mortification of being obliged to return on foot ; 
 a circumftance, which, in the cafe of hunting the buffalo 
 or the lion, might have been attended with ftill worfe 
 confequences. My companions were fo eager and in- 
 tent on the chafe, that they all rode on without giving 
 themfelves the trouble to fee whether I wanted any help 
 or no. 
 
 The
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 213 
 
 The elk-antilopes^ however, are none of them fo fleet as ^Hl^;^^ 
 the hartbeejh ; the hide hkewife of the neck, particularly of ^.•vO 
 that of the male, is thicker and tougher than either the hide 
 of this latter or that of the common ox ; and is looked up- 
 on, next to the buffalo's hide, to be the fitteil for halters for 
 oxen, traces for waggons, field-fhoes, and fuch like ufes. 
 The female has horns, like the male, but fmaller ; though 
 they, as well as thofe of the male, are ufed by the Hot- 
 tentots, both men and women, for tobacco-pipes, in the 
 manner I have before mentioned at page 230, Vol. I. (fee 
 likewife Plate I. ^g, 3. of the fame volume.) There is no 
 porus febaceus, or ceriferus, at the corner of the eye of this 
 animal, as there is in the eye of the gnu and of the hart- 
 beeji. I obferved a very lingular circumftance in the lafl 
 elk we fliot, which w^as, that on each fide of its eight front 
 teeth, there was a cartilaginous procefs exactly refembling 
 a tufk. Thefe proceiTes wxre fomewhat flexible and elaflic; 
 in fadl, they did not feem at all adapted to maftication, fo. 
 that it was difficult to conjecture for what purpofe they were 
 intended by nature. In the live young elk that I made a 
 drawing of, it did not once enter into my thoughts to 
 examine how things were fituated with refpedt to this 
 procefs. 
 
 Koedoe is the name given by the colonifls to a beautiful 
 tall gazel with long and flender fhanks, which is larger, 
 though much lefs clumfy and heavy, than the elk-antUope, 
 The horns too of the koedoe^ befides that the fpiral twift on 
 them is more deeply emboifed, and is embelliflied with a 
 lingularly prominent edge, or rib, are tvvice as long as the. 
 horns of the elk. M. de Buffon, who has feen the horns 
 
 only
 
 214 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^11^' only of both thefe animals, has, as I have already men- 
 C^/^ tioned, mifcalled the Cape-elk by the name of couclou\ 
 which however properly belongs to the animal I am now 
 defcribing, whofe name he has, inflead of this, diftorted 
 to condoma ; a circumftance which probably proceeded 
 from the letter to which M. Buffon refers, having been 
 ill wTitten, or elfe from his having made a miftake in read- 
 ing it; fo that either in one cafe or the other, they turned 
 the letter u in coudou topfy turvy, and made an n of it. 
 He was obliged to alter the termination alfo, otherwife we 
 Ihould have had two very different animals with the fame 
 name. By this means, likewife, the elk-antilope ran the 
 rillc of wearing the long {lately horns of the koedoe. 
 
 Neither has M. Houttuyn been more fortunate in his 
 Natuurlyke Hijiorie^ Vol. III. p. 267, in which he clalTes 
 them with the flieep. Excepting the horns, the whole of 
 the figure he has given in Tab. XXVI. 1. c. is good for 
 nothing. Our great countryman Linn^us has been fo far 
 mifled, as to refer to it in his Syjleni of Nature for the 
 figure of the ovis Jlrepficeros ; though the body they 
 have put to the horns (which, however, never belonged to 
 it) is certainly not like that of a Iheep. A better figure is 
 given in the Nouv. Defcrip, du Cap de B. E/perance, page 
 41, 42, the author of which afTures us, that it was taken 
 from the life. In the mean time I muft confefs, that I 
 had no cognizance whatever of the beard : I will not ven- 
 ture, however, to difputethe point very tenacioufly, as I faw 
 thefe animals alive but twice in the courfe of my hunting 
 expeditions, though, indeed, that was at no great diflance. 
 M, Pallas, who had examined the head of a koedoe, re- 
 marks
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 215 
 
 marks in Spic. I. p, i — 17, that the ^oedoe has no beard, '77^- 
 
 , ■, c 11 January. 
 
 and therefore cannot be the caj?ra anonyjna of Kolbe. 'v^-^-rO 
 Mr. Pennant, who in his Hijlory of Sluadrupeds^ Vol. I. 
 p. 77, has accurately defcribed the koedoe under the name 
 of the Jlriped antilope from feveral fkins of this animal, 
 and who refers to the above-mentioned figure in the Nouv, 
 Defcript, du Cap, as being a good one, is quite lilent with 
 refpedt to the beard. I have fome time before aflerted in 
 the Swedifli Tranfadlions for 1779, p. 157, that the male 
 of the koedoe had no horns ; a circumftance which had 
 not been remarked before by any zoologift, and which I 
 would wifh to confirm in this place ; with the additional 
 remark, that the p or us ceriferus, which in anumber of ^^- 
 zels is placed below the eye, is wanting in the koedos. 
 Concerning this point I affured myfelf, by infpe6ling the 
 body of a fawn of one of the animals immediately after 
 it was (hot. 
 
 The predominant colour in this fawn's Ikin, which I 
 brought home with me, is a rufty brown ; the ridge of the 
 back is likewife partly inclined to brown and partly to white ; 
 but the flripes which go from it downwards, to the number 
 of eight or nine, are white ; the hind part of the belly is of a 
 white colour, which extends flrait downwards on the fore 
 part of the hind legs in the form of a white lift, terminat- 
 ing a hand's breadth above the hoofs; but dire6lly above 
 them on all the four feet there is a white fpot, compofed, 
 as it were, of two; the fetlock-joints are extremely fmall, and 
 the part below each of them is of a brown colour. On the 
 breaft again, there are likewife fome dark brown marks. 
 The forehead and the fore part of the nofe are brown, 
 
 the
 
 2i6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »776. the lower lip is white, and there is fome white on the up- 
 OvO pel' lip> on the knees, and on each Ude of the fore legs; a 
 white llripe half an inch long runs forward froiu the in- 
 ternal angle of each eye, and thefe ftripes almoft meet to- 
 gether ju ft above the nofe; upon each of the cheek-bones 
 there are two fmall white fpots ; the inner edges of the 
 ears are covered with white hairs, and the upper part of 
 the neck is adorned with a brown mane an inch long. 
 
 From the tall and flender form of the koedoe^ I had con- 
 ceived it to be a very fwift-footed animal ; but I have been 
 afTured by two colonifts, that in this refpe6l it is not only 
 very moderate, but likewife foon tires ; fo that it is more 
 ealily overtaken by the hounds than any other gazel: on 
 the other hand, the males with their long horns defend 
 themfelves with great fpirit againll their foe, when he comes 
 to clofe quarters with them. I cannot by any means fup- 
 pofe, that the large horns of the male are the caufe of its 
 running fo llowly ; for the female, which is free' from this 
 burthen, is not looked upon to be fwdfter of foot than the 
 male : fo that I cannot conceive the reafon, why nature 
 has denied her the power of extricating herfelf from dan- 
 ger, both by means of her head and of her feet. 
 
 On the 29th of January, being on our way homewards, 
 we came very clofe upon feven or eight koedoes^ one of 
 which, not placing any dependence on its legs, fled for 
 refuge into the river, where it got entangled in the weeds 
 and grafs that floated on the furface, and was feized and 
 -worried to death by our hounds. Afterwards two of our 
 Hottentots fwam to it, and cut off feveral flices from it. 
 I found the flefh much of the fame nature with that of the 
 
 hartbeeji^
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE* 217 
 
 bartheejiy but the marrow was, at leafl in mv opinion, ex- .^"^i^- 
 
 , , . r ' January^ 
 
 tremely delicious. The koedoe is faid to Hve more on V^^-O 
 flirubs and buflies, than any of the other gazels I have be- 
 fore mentioned. A fportfman, in whofe prefence I was 
 making mention of the cartilages of the elk-antilope which 
 refemble tufks, informed me, that the koedoe had pro- 
 cefTes exadlly of the fame kind. 
 
 Another of the larger kind of gazel at the Cape, is 
 known by the name of ge77ife-boky or chamois. How im- 
 proper an appellation this is in many refpe6ls Dr. Forster 
 has already taken notice, in his Voyage round the Worlds 
 Vol. I. page 84. The horns are very well delineated in 
 BuFFON, Tom. XII. Tab. XXXIII. Fig. 3. and there is a 
 beautiful figure of the whole animal in the Nouv, Defcript, 
 page 56, where the name oi pafan^ which had been given 
 it by M. DE BuFFON, is retained. M. Pallas, who, in 
 his Spic. Zool. Falc. I. pag. 14. hath called it the antilope 
 bezoartica, has thought proper to alter the name in his 
 Fafc. XII. page 16 and 17, to that of antilope oryx, Mr. 
 Pennant has defcribed this gazel under the denomination 
 of Egyptian^ vide his Synopfis of '^ladnipeds^ P^ge 2 5 ; and 
 his Hijl, of ^adrupedsy p. 67. M. Houttuyn likewife 
 by his Fig. i. Tab. XXIV. which LiNN^us refers to for 
 his capra gazella^ probably meant the Cape chamois. In 
 all probability, this animal is peculiar to the north -weftern 
 part of the colony; for in the tra6ls of country I travelled 
 through, I neither faw nor heard any thing of it. At Cape 
 Town, however, the horns are not very fcarce. I have one 
 under my care in the cabinet of the Royal Academy, which 
 is of a blackifli colour, about three feet long, and almoft 
 
 Vol, XL F f ' perfeaiy
 
 2i8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776. perfe(511y ftrait, the lower half of it at the fame time being 
 S^^^^ diftinguifhed by twenty or more craggy wavy rings pro- 
 jeding above the furface. The upper half is fmooth, and 
 goes off tapering by degrees to a fharp point, the diameter 
 of the bafe being about an inch and a half. In other re- 
 fpecSls, this creature is defcribed both by Mr. Pennant, 
 and in the above-mentioned compilation, as being of an 
 afli colour fomewhat inclining to red ; the belly, legs, and 
 face are white ; but the fpaces juft before and round about 
 the horn, together with the fore part of the upper extre- 
 mity of the nofe, and the lower part of the forehead, are 
 black, or black bordering upon brown; there alfo goes 
 from the eyes to the chin a brownifli black ftripe, which 
 is connected by another of the fame kind with the above- 
 mentioned fpot on the nofe and forehead. This animal is 
 likewife faid to be of a dark colour on the fhoulders, a little 
 on the fore part of the legs, on thofe parts where the belly 
 terminates in the fides, on the tail itfelf, and all along the 
 back and the neck. The tail feems to reach to the hocks, 
 and the hoofs appear to be of an uncommon length ; fo, 
 at leafl, they are reprefented in the figures alluded to 
 above. 
 
 Kolbe's defcription of his elk (called the elend-thier in 
 the German edition, p. 145?) anfwers better in fome fort 
 to this gazcl than to that which is a6tually known at 
 the Cape by this name, and of which I have given a 
 defcription; but whichever of thefe two it is that Kolbe 
 means, his defcription is faulty at all events, and the 
 weight he mentions, viz. 400 lb. is under the real weight 
 of the animal. But be that as it will, there is the moft 
 
 manifeft
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 219 
 
 manifeft abfvirdity in Kolbe's aflertion, that an animal of ^ii^- 
 
 n ' n f January. 
 
 fuch a weight as this lliould be caught in a fpringe with a ^^^sr^j 
 fmall cord, and drawn np into the air. 
 
 The blaauW'bok is alfo one of the large fpecies oi gazel^ 
 Avhich, probably, are only to be found in the fame diflridl 
 with the ^^;^r<?/juft defcribed ; excepting, perhaps, a fingle 
 one, which may happen now and then by great chance to 
 ftray from thefe parts : for at Krakeel-rivierj I found they 
 had preferved a fkin of this animal. The colour of this 
 creature when alive is faid to refemble that of blue velvet, 
 but when it is dead it is of a lead colour. There is a 
 beautiful figure of it by the name of the Tzeiran^ to be 
 feen at p. 5 8 of the compilation I have frequently referred 
 to. On this fubje6l the reader may likewife turn to Mn 
 Pennant's hlue antilope^ and M. Pallas's antilope leuco- 
 phcea ; being thus called by the latter gentleman, from the 
 circumftance of its being marked with a large white fpot 
 jufl before and beneath each eye. The hairs on the belly are 
 long and white ; the tail is fliort ; the horns go backwards 
 with a curve, being decorated with about twenty- four rings 
 to three- fourths of their height ; but the uppermoft quar- 
 ter is fmooth, and goes off tapering by degrees to a point. 
 
 The hunte-bok^ (the painted or pied goat) called by Mr. 
 Pennant the barneffed ojittlope, and by M. Pallas anti'- 
 lope fcripta^ I have already mentioned in Vol. I. page 129, 
 as being fomewhat lefs than the bartbee/l\ and again at 
 page 277, as being larger than the bofch-bok. The bimte*- 
 bok is not to be found any farther to the eaflward of the 
 Cape than Zwellendam ; but a farmer who had been in the 
 country of Tambuki informed me, that he had there again 
 
 F f 2 feen
 
 220 A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 1776. feen bunte-boks^ though fomewhat different from the above- 
 
 lanuary. • ■, 
 
 v.-'yO mentioned. 
 
 The ^;^^<', which I have defcribed above at pages 1 3 2,1 5 2, 
 and 175, and have given the figure of in Plate II. of this 
 volume, I reckon, with flill greater confidence than I did be- 
 fore, among the large gazels of Africa; fmce induced -by the 
 arguments I have made ufe of to this purpofe in the Swedifh 
 Tranfadlions, the great Englifli Pliny, whofe admirable 
 Hiftory of Quadrupeds I have fo often quoted in thefe ilieets, 
 has likewife thought proper to refer the gnu to the gazel 
 kind. 
 
 To the fmaller African gazelsy (which, indeed, has been 
 already treated of) having no porus ceriferus underneath 
 the eye, belong the following : 
 
 The bofcb'boky or antilope fyhatica^ cornibus ereBis fubtri- 
 quetris fpiralibus^ corpore fufco, albo maculato^ caiida brevijji- 
 tna. This animallhave already fpoken of at page 2 70, Vol. I. 
 and have given the figure of it in Plate VI. of this volume. 
 As the fpecific difference of the other gazels which are 
 better known than this in the refpe6live defcriptions of each 
 of them, or may be found in fome of the authors there 
 quoted, I choofe to omit the infertion of them here, in 
 order to avoid prolixity ; particulary as it would be of no 
 fervice, excepting with refped: to the making out of the 
 nomenclature of the whole genus. 
 
 TYit fpring-bok^ or the bounding goat, (vide page 83 to 
 page 90, and Plate V. of this volume) is called by M. Pal- 
 las, in his Fafc. XIL page 15, the antilope pygargus. 
 
 Befides the gazels above-mentioned, there are feveral 
 
 others of which I am not able to give the zoologifls fo good 
 
 6 au
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 221 
 
 an account as they may require of me. I conceive, never- ,^'^'^^\^ 
 thelefs, that the enumerating of them here will not be ^..*<*vxj 
 wholly ufelefs, as by this means the attention of naturalifts 
 and travellers may be tarned to them in a particular man- 
 ner, fo that fome light may at length be thrown on this 
 principal branch of zoology, which has been hitherto fo 
 much involved in darknefs. Thefe animals are the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 The ree-bok is a gregarious -animal, two feet in height. 
 The predominant colour of it is an afh-colour, fomewhat 
 refembling that of a hare, but a little inclining to red ; the 
 belly and anus are white, as well as the under part of the 
 tail, which is very fliort; the b^rns are black, quite ftraight, 
 and in poiition, form and fubftance, very like thofe of the 
 gemfe- bok^ but are barely a foot long, and proportionally 
 very fmall, confequently very taper at the end and fliarp- 
 pointed;. for which reafon the Hottentots frequently keep 
 them by them, and ufe them as awls or bodkins for the 
 purpofe of boring holes, when they make or repair their 
 fhoes- OT cloaks. The hair like wife of this cre?,ture feem.s 
 to be fofter and finer than common. The. flefli of it is 
 dry, and is accounted worfe than tha.t of any other gazel. 
 
 This animal was not uncommon in Hottentots HoIIandy 
 Art aquas -kloofs and Lange-klocf. I muft own> however, that 
 I have drawn up the account I have julf given of this animal, 
 from memory only, as I had the misfortune to lofe the 
 original defcription, together with the drawing. In a 
 journey like mine, lolTes of this kind are not to be won- 
 dered at. At times, when I was \vet through with heavy 
 Aiowers of rain, or in confequence of liaving forded a ri- 
 
 verj
 
 2 2 2 AVOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776- ver, a paper or two that I had about me, muft neceffarily 
 
 January. ,.,-,. 
 
 O^ynJ have been 111 the lame predicament. The overturning of 
 our waggon hkewile, efpecially at night, which happened 
 at two different times, was of no great fervice to my col- 
 ledlions, particularly to my inre6ls. 
 
 The riet^ or reed ree-bok^ I faw but once, and then I 
 had but a hafty glimpfe of it, as it ran by me. This w^as 
 during my refidence at Agter Bruntjes-boogte^ and it w^as 
 there only that I heard any mention of this creature. It 
 generally keeps concealed among the reeds and marfliy 
 places, and is thought to refemble a little the animal laft 
 defcribed, from which two circumflances it has obtained 
 the name it bears. It is, however, twice as big as the 
 ree-bok ; they are m^onogamous, or keep only in pairs, and, 
 if I remember right, the females are faid to be without 
 horns. 
 
 Notwithflanding all the prefents and offers I have made 
 to my correfpondents at the Cape, they have not yet ful- 
 filled their promifes of fending me the fkins of thefe two 
 animals, which are probably a fpecies of the capra or ga- 
 ze l genus, hitherto entirely unknown. 
 
 The vlakjleen-bok was the name given at Agter Bruntjes- 
 hoogte to animals (probably of the gazel kind) two feet in 
 height, which ufed, in fom.e fort, to herd together on the 
 vlaktens^ or plains, though for the moft part difperfed and 
 at a diilance from each other, I likewife faw this crea- 
 ture twice on my journey homeward through the defert. 
 Though, when at a certain diflance, it did not appear in 
 the leail fliy, it always took care, however, not to let any 
 of us come within gun-lliot of it. It mvifl confequently 
 
 be
 
 I 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 223 
 
 be hunted down on horfeback, except the ground is too tJ/^^^*, 
 ftoney and rough. The colour of it was a very pale-red or a v^n-O 
 moufe-colour, {colore muiino) on which account it was Hke- 
 wife faid to be called by fome the bleek-bok^ or vaal ree-bok. 
 It is more clumfy and unwieldy than the ree~bok^ and in its 
 form more refembles the animal commonly called tho^JJeen^ 
 bok at the Cape. 
 
 The animals called by the colonifts fteen-bok^ grys-bok^, 
 duyker-bok^ and klipfpringer^ are about two feet high, be- 
 ing probably of the gazel kind, and are not uncommon 
 near the Cape» But for this very reafon, and in confe- 
 quence of my having been frequently impeded by my bo- 
 tanical refearches, I deferred the inveftigation of thefe ani- 
 mals till it was too late, as my departure for Europe took 
 place much fooner than I expelled. It is fome confolation 
 to me, however, to reflecfl, that this lofs may eafily be re- 
 paired; and, indeed, more than repaired, by fomebody elfe r 
 perhaps we may expedl that favour from MelTrs, FoRSTERSy 
 who, when at the Cape, wxre engaged in making draw- 
 ings, together with accurate defcriptions of thefe quadru- 
 peds ; for which reafon likewife, I even then confidered 
 my refearches into this matter as being the more fuper- 
 iiuous. In the mean time, how^ever,. I mull: obferve, that I am 
 perfectly convinced that thefe animals are of Ipecies diftindt 
 from each other, the females of w^hich have no horns ;. and^ 
 if L remember right, they have all a porus ceriferus below 
 the eye, except, according to v/hat I was told, the duyker- 
 boL The fiefli too of thislaft animal was alfofaid to be very- 
 dry and tough, when compared with that of the others,, 
 which I tailed of, and which appeared, to m>.c, with refpedl^ 
 
 to
 
 ^24 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^11^' to die high flavour and drynefs of the meat, to bear fome 
 C-vv^ refemblance to the flelh of the hare. 
 
 The Jleen-hok is of a reddifli colour, with a white fpot 
 over its eyes, and is probably a variety of Mr. Pennant's 
 red antilope. Hift. of Quadrupeds, page 76. 
 
 The grys-hok is of a greyifh colour, with black ears, and 
 a large black fpot round the eyes, being probably the A, 
 Qrjmniia. Spicil. ZooL I. p. 8. Tab. III. 
 . The hlipfpringer is of a hght red colour, inclining to yel- 
 low, and intermixed with black ftreaks ; the tips and edges 
 of its ears are black. The tails of thefe animals were very 
 fliort ; the horns of all the males, if I remember right, are 
 rather fhorter than their ears, being in fome meafure ftraight, 
 and at the fame time round, fmooth, fliarp-pointed, black, and 
 Handing at a great diftance from each other, though pro- 
 bably they vary in their pofition. The hlipfpringer has ob- 
 tained the name it bears, from the circumftance of its run- 
 ning with the greateft volocity, and making large bounds 
 even on the lleepelt precipices and in the moft rocky places ; 
 fo that, like the other two, it cannot be eafily caught with 
 hounds. In this refpe6t it refembles Mr. Pennant's yze^z/if 
 antilope^ 1. c. As for the duyker-bokf or diving goat, I 
 have only had a lingle glimpfe of it. The colour of it 
 feemed to be dark brown, and its manner of running in the 
 highefl degree fingular; as the animal would make a bound 
 at intervals, rifing in its leap with its neck ere6l, and in its 
 defcent bringing it down between its legs, and then conti- 
 nuing its courfe on the ground. This, perhaps, among the 
 bufhes, had the appearance of diving, and gave rife to its 
 name. 
 
 Apes^
 
 G A P E OF GO O D H O P E. 225 
 
 j^pes^ or baboons s relide in confiderable numbers in the /776- 
 
 -« ' ' January. 
 
 woody part of the mountain, at the foot of which runs v^o^O 
 little Fifcb-rivier, They are faid to have long canine teeth 
 or tulks, and to be very fwift of foot, nimble, ftrong, and 
 difficult to kill, fo that they will fometimes even force the 
 tigers to quit their hold, and part with their lives to the 
 hounds at a dear rate. On this account the colonifts are 
 not very fond of hunting them. One day, however, when 
 feveral baboons made their appearance very near the farm 
 where we were lodged, I perfuaded my hofl to fet his dogs 
 upon them. One of thefe baboons, which feemed rather 
 in years and inactive, and perhaps was not able to reach 
 the mountains fo foon as the reft, took refuge in a low tree 
 down in the plain. My piece was at this time loaded with 
 what they call Jleen-bok fliot, or fhot about the fize of a 
 common pea ; and with thefe, at the diftance of fifteen 
 paces only, I hit the animal in the left breaft ; notwith- 
 ftanding which, the creature, though mortally wounded, 
 was able to ftay in the tree feveral minutes, and during 
 that time did not utter the leaft cry or groan. At laft, 
 when it was obliged to quit its hold on the tree, the 
 dogs fell upon it before it came to the ground. I now 
 found that there was very good foundation for what I had 
 been formerly told, viz. that there was no fpecies of hunting ' 
 in which the dogs Ihew fo much fury and malice as in the 
 chafe of monkies or baboons ; ours having wounded the 
 animal in a moft terrible manner, before they could be 
 made to quit it. The head of this creature very much re- 
 fembled that of a dog, and its tufks were about half an 
 inch long ; the colour of the hair was a yellowifli brown ; 
 Vol. IL G g the
 
 January 
 
 226 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. the tail was nearly as long as the body, and was terminated 
 by a tuft of hair, fo that in this refpe6t it refemblcd the tail 
 of the lion. The whole length of the animal from head 
 to foot was five feet ; its colour was the common baboon 
 colour, or a mixture of yellow and brown. It is probable, 
 that this baboon is the J/mia cynocephalus of the Syjlema 
 Nature? \ though the cauda Jloccofa of this animal is not 
 taken notice of in the differentia fpecifica^ as the tails of 
 fuch monkies as are kept in a ftate of confinement are 
 ufually cut fliort by their keepers. In the courfe of my 
 journey I accidentally faw a young baboon or two with crop- 
 ped tails, which were kept chained up, and were faid to 
 be natives of the Cape colonies ; but they had not a dog's 
 nofe and large tuflcs like this, fo that they probably form- 
 ed a diftin6t fpecies ; neither had they fuch a dark colour 
 as Mr. Pennant defcribes in his urjine baboon, which he 
 fuppofes came from the Cape. The fkin of the monkey 
 I had lliot, had been too ill ufed by the dogs to be worth 
 preferving ; but curious to know, what this animal, in fo 
 many refpedls refembling the human race, fed upon in his 
 wild Itate, I opened his ftomach, and found it filled with 
 a fubftance like fpinach, cut fmall and ftewed : this ani- 
 mal, in all probability, eats like wife certain bulbs and roots, 
 like XhQ BoJ}jies-men\ though at that time at lealV, its diet 
 did not appear to confift of a mixture of different fubftances, 
 neither fruit nor berries of any fort being to be found in 
 thefe parts, at leaft not in that quantity as to deferve to be 
 ranked among the articles on which thefe animals fubfifted. 
 They were not in the leaft fufpecSled of living upon animal 
 food ; befides, it is well known, that many forts of mon- 
 S kies, 
 
 I
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 227 
 
 kies, when in a flate of confinement, are fed only with ^n^- 
 vegetables, and upon fuch food are brifk and lively ; for U^vvi 
 which reafon, as one can fcarcely entertain fo ill an opinion 
 of M. DE Buff ON, conlldering him as a naturalifl and author 
 of a coniiderable number of large volumes on the fubjecl of 
 zoology, as to fuppofe him ignorant of the circumftance of 
 moft of the monkey tribe obferving in general a vegetable 
 diet, or of the great refemblance between the vifcera of 
 thefe creatures and thofe of man ; for this reafon I fay, it 
 is difficult to conceive, what could induce this celebrated 
 author to aflert, that animals which have only one flomach 
 and fhort inteflines, are obliged, like man, to feed upon 
 flefh ? Les animaux qui ffont quPun ejlomac, et les in- 
 tejiins courts^ font forces^ cojnme l'bo7mne^ a fe nourrir de 
 chair, (Buffon, Tom. VII. p. 36.) 
 
 In fa(St, muft it not likewife inevitably follow from this 
 poiition, that the rhinoceros and horfe, which, in like man- 
 ner, have one ftomach, with inteflines very lliort in pro- 
 portion, fhould be obliged, like man, to live upon flefh ? 
 M. DE Buffon, indeed, in order farther to enforce his 
 opinion, advifes us, 1. c. to compare the bowels of ani- 
 mals with each other : but to fay the truth, it is, very un- 
 fortunately for him, precifely this compariibn, which when 
 made between man, the ape, the rhinoceros, and the horfe; 
 or again, between the diminutive fructivorous ape, y^/>;//>/, 
 Tom. XV. and thofe carnivorous animals the couzucis and 
 lynX', Tom. IX. or the wolf, Tom. VII. militates againft 
 him. We likewife find this learned author, who is him- 
 felf, perhaps, fonder of animal than of vegetable food, at 
 page 32 and the following pages of Tom. VII. urging in 
 
 G g 2 the
 
 228 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 »776. the il:ronc:ejn: manner the indifpenfible neceflity that man- 
 
 January. '-' 
 
 ^•vO kind is under of taking animal food ; and in one place he 
 breaks out in this manner, *' Were 7nan i^educed to the ne- 
 cejjlty of living on bread and vegetables alone, he would 
 fcarcely be able to fupport life in a weak and lajtguijljing con- 
 ditioJi.^' From alTertions like thefe one is almofl induced to 
 fufpedl, that this ample and voluminous hiftorian of the 
 animal kingdom, has acquired but a flight and fuperficial 
 knowledge of the human race ; and that, preferring elo- 
 quence and paradox to folid argument, he is at any time 
 more likely to adopt falfhood and error, than to arrive at 
 truth : for, allowing that the Bramins, who live without 
 animal food, are rather, as M. de Buffon will have it, a 
 particular fe6l than a peculiar race of people, ftill, hov/ever, 
 they are men, who live and propagate their fpecies, and 
 are certainly by no means in a weakly and debilitated itate^ 
 I have been told, that a great part of the poor in China 
 fubfift, and that tolerably well, upon rice alone. The lower 
 clafs of inhabitants in the South-Sea, (the T'atails) and even 
 thofe of the higher clafTes, ufed to beg meat of us, as it was 
 a great rarity with them ; and though many of thefe could 
 very feldom get at any fifh, and even that but in fmall 
 quantities, they neverthelefs throve very well on this chiefly 
 vegetable diet, and w^ere fo flout and robuft as, not to men- 
 tion other proofs of their ftrength, for the fake of a glafs 
 bead or a nail, frequently to difpute with each other which 
 of them fliould carry fome of us carnivorous Europeans 
 on their backs over places, which we could not have other- 
 w^ife pafTed without being wet-fhod. This office they per- 
 formed fo well, as never once to itumble in pretty rapid 
 
 jftreams
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 229 
 
 ftreams with rough gravelly bottoms, though at the fame ' ii^- 
 time the water reached up to their middles, and we fate a- v.^yO 
 flride upon their ftioulders with our guns in our hands. 
 The wretched illand, called Eajier Ijland, is a very con- 
 vincing proof, that human nature can accuflom itfelf to be 
 content with very little nourifhment ; for though we walk- 
 ed quite acrofs the illand, and explored a confiderable part 
 of it, we could fee no more than one little boat, which, by 
 the by too, w as very much patched up and cobled ; neither 
 could we find timber enough to make another like it ; fo 
 that I do not know what could induce Capt. Cook to affirm, 
 that they had three or four boats. Neither did we obferve 
 any kind of fhliing-tackle in the leaft, nor any figns, that 
 the inhabitants were ufed to get their food from the fea or 
 its fhore. They had, indeed, fome cocks and hens, but 
 as thefe were but fmall and very tame, and at the fame 
 time fo far from being numerous, that we fcarcely faw 
 fifty of them in a place containing feven or eight hundred 
 people, w^e may with great propriety alTert, that there 
 were many perfons in this ifland who fubfifled almofl, if 
 not quite, without animal food of any kind whatfoever. 
 There were fome roots there, it is true ; but as thefe were 
 not extremely plentiful, and are held in abhorrence in the 
 other iilands, I do not know", whether the reafons given 
 by Capt. Cook are fufficient to induce one to fuppofe, that 
 the inhabitants of this ifland ufed them as food ; and in 
 cafe they did, they would feldom be able to make a good 
 meal of them. It is true, that thefe people were ahi^iofl 
 all of them lank and lean ; but then it muft be confidered 
 like wife, that there was alfo a very great fcarcity of vege- 
 tables ', ;
 
 230 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^11^' tables ; as the vegetable produce of the whole country 
 OvsJ hardly confifted of twenty plants, among which the pifang, 
 yams, fweet potatoes, and the fugar cane, were the chief 
 articles w^hich it appeared to me they could make ufe of. 
 On the other hand, thefe people were agile, and as 
 fwift as goats, and feemed to be very healthy. Their 
 itrength was not put to the trial ; but that their vegetable 
 food did not make them tardy in the performance of the 
 Cyprian rites, an effedl which M. de Buffon, at page 33, 
 feems willing to attribute to it, the reader may be eafily 
 convinced by perufmg Dr. Forster's defcription of the 
 Meffalina-like temperament of the women. One of thefe, 
 who had fwam to our fliip, when it was at a great diftance 
 from the fliore, was faid, within the fpace of a few hours, 
 to have fuifered the embraces of feventeen of our failors 
 and marines, before llie fwam again to land. 
 
 By way of farther refuting M. de Buffon's aflertion 
 with refpe6l to the indifpenfable neceflity of an animal diet, 
 that in the Society Iflands the inhabitants had no great fu- 
 perfluity of meat for themfelves, much lefs had they any 
 fifli or flefli to beftow on their dogs ; fo that thefe creatures, 
 which, according to M. de Buffon, particularly came un- 
 der the denomination of carnivorous animals, might very 
 properly be fiiid to be fed almoft, if not entirely, on vege- 
 table food alone. I had no reafon, however, to look upon 
 them as being feeble and weak ; though, on the other 
 hand, the roafled ones which now and then appeared at 
 our table, as well as at thofe of the principal inhabitants, 
 were convincing proofs of their being fat and in good con- 
 dition. Moreover, lince our hounds in Europe, which 
 
 certainly
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 231 
 
 certainly belong more properly than man to the clafs of ^ii^- 
 carnivorous animals, are often nourifhed for a long time v^*^/-^^ 
 together extremely well with nothing elfe but flour and 
 water, why Ihould not feveral forts of vegetables fuffice 
 for mankind ? The flaves and the Bolhies-men at the Cape, 
 who are engaged in the fervice of fuch farmers as do no- 
 thing but graze fheep, and confequently have little or no 
 butter-milk, and at the fame time live in parts where the 
 game has been previoufly deftroyed, are yet kept by their 
 mafters in good condition, almofl entirely with bread and 
 other preparations of meal and flour ; for they are very 
 careful not to lavifh their fheep on their flaves, thefe fheep 
 being very frequently the only articles by which they can 
 get a little ready cafh and pay their taxes. In Thomas 
 Gage's voyage to New Spain we find, that the poor lived 
 on maiz and a fort of phafeohis^ or kidney-bean ; though 
 thofe which live nearer the town, now and then, at leaft 
 on Sundays, got a little meat. 
 
 In Ulloa's Voyage, Tom. I. p. 248, 249, we read as 
 follows : " The poor people here have nothing to live up- 
 on but papas ; thefe roots fland them in the ftead of all 
 other nourifliment. The Creoles prefer them to fowls 
 and the fineft flelh meats." Who is there that does 
 not know, how great a part cacao beans make of the 
 food of the inhabitants in the country where they grow ; 
 and how foon people of wafted and reduced conftitutions, 
 by means of them, recover their flefh and ftrength ? Nay, 
 we have an inftance of a fhip's crew, which for two months 
 had nothing but chocolate for their food, and were very 
 hearty and well with it. 
 
 Now,
 
 ^3^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '77^- N0W5 notwithilanding that there are many families in 
 
 ^^-''^vO Upper Egypt which hve entirely upon dates, (vide Hassel-- 
 QUiSTj p. 501) not to mention feveral other fimilar in- 
 llances, yet I will not look upon them as abfolutely con- 
 clulive with refpect to M. de Buffon himfelf ; as this au- 
 thor, at page 33, I.e. advances, that abftinence from ani- 
 mal food would deftroy the human race ; or, at leaft in our 
 climate, would render it unfit for the propagation of its 
 fpecies, farther fays, " It is poflible, indeed, that a vege- 
 table diet may be pra6licable in the fouthern countries, 
 where the fruits are riper, the herbs have more fubftance 
 in them, the roots are more fucculent, and the feeds con- 
 tain more nourifliment." Setting alide this gentleman's 
 may be, I rather choofe, by inftances brought from Europe 
 and our own climate, fully to refute his delufive docSlrines 
 with refpe6t to the abfolute neceffity of an animal diet. I 
 cannot, however, help remarking, en pajjant, in contra- 
 didlion to this author, that he has the lefs reafon to con- 
 fider a vegetable diet as making a man unfit for propaga- 
 tion, as the vegetable kingdom produces the greateft quan- 
 tity of fubflances w^hich promote venery. Befides a great 
 many plants belonging to the clafs gynandria, together with 
 feveral others which might be enumerated, we have cho- 
 colate and falep, which are know^n even by the more ig- 
 norant part of mankind to be pofTefled of aphrodifiac qua- 
 lities : peas likewife, turnips, cabbage, and other flatulent 
 vegetables, are looked upon as polTefling thefe virtues in 
 fome degree, and that not without foundation nor unwar- 
 ranted by experience. This pbilofopber, indeed, who is fo 
 much prejudiced againft vegetable diet, might have learned 
 
 even
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 233 
 
 even from the molt illiterate, that certain vegetables exalt- ,^776. 
 
 *-* January. 
 
 ed by fermentation, as in the cafe of good wine and ale, in V^rO 
 proper dofes, augment, in this particular, the inclination 
 as well as the faculty. As to the greater degree of per- 
 fedion afcribed by M. de Buffon to the plants of the 
 fouthern countries, in comparifon with thofe which grow 
 in Europe, it is repugnant to all probability, as well as to 
 what we know for certain of the oeconomy of nature, which 
 brings to as great perfedlion the root, flem, leaves, and 
 feed of a plant flie had intended for the Alps, as of one 
 which file has planted under the line itfelf. 
 
 One cannot in particular help wondering the more, that 
 M. DE Buffon fhould take it into his head, that the plants 
 w^hich grow in the fouthern climates, have more fubftance in 
 them than thofe of France; as, according to the tellimonyof 
 Olafson and feveral others, a bufliel of the lichen IJlandicuSy 
 or Iceland mofs, a plant produced in the moft northern part 
 of Europe, is adequate to two bufhels of wheat ; and, as 
 M. DE Buffon likewife fuppofes, that the roots in the 
 fouthern countries are more fucculent than they are in the 
 north, are we to take it for granted that he did not find 
 the turnips in Burgundy fufhciently juicy ? 
 
 But the fadl is, that as far as a knowledge of phyfiology 
 and botany, and above all mature reflec^tion, joined with a 
 habit of method and arrangement, are requifite in order to 
 enable a man to form a right judgment concerning the food 
 of animals, this great naturahfl has in this place, as 
 well as in many others, happened to enter upon a fub- 
 jecTt, of which he is entirely ignorant : of this we have 
 fufficient proofs, in the detracSling afperlions he has thrown 
 Vol. II. H h out
 
 234 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ]^nuRr' °^^ againft Linnaeus, and his fyitem of botany, although 
 \^y^^ this fyftem has been received by all good naturalifls. M. 
 DE BuFFON, therefore, would have done better, had he 
 kept to his ufual admeafurements and prolix defcriptions of 
 animals, their Ikins, fkeletons, and horns ; taking care, how- 
 ever, for the future, to make his obfervations in a more 
 accurate manner than he has done with refpe6t to the horns 
 of oxen ; on the fubjed: of which he has happened very 
 unfortunately to make a capital blunder, as I fliall be obliged 
 to fliev/ more at large a little farther on, when I come to 
 treat of the camelopardalis. 
 
 In the mean while, let us finilli the difculTion of the 
 . queftion, in how far a man, at leall in France or Europe, 
 {au moins dans ces pays, vide Buffon, 1. c.) may be fup- 
 pofed to linger on through life in a weak and debilitated 
 iiate, or to be incapacitated for the propagation of his fpecies, 
 by living on vegetable food, fuch as is likely to be found 
 in thefe countries, e. g. potatoes, turnips, turnip- rooted 
 cabbage, carrots, onions, afparagus, fcorzonera, fivirrets, 
 the lathyrus tuberofus, fallads, and cabbages of all kinds, 
 artichokes, peas, beans, bread, puddings, and all the other 
 various preparations of meal or corn, chefnuts, almonds, 
 apples, pears, and plums of all forts, melons, pumpkins, 
 cucumbers, olives, oil, figs, grapes, berries of all forts, 
 wine, beer, &:c. 
 
 The very mention of thefe feems to be a fufficient proof 
 of the abfurdity of M. de Buffon's opinicm; but as he 
 poflibly will not give up the point without good authority 
 being produced to the contrary, I will firft of all refer him 
 to his juitly celebrated countryman Tournefort's excel- 
 lent
 
 C A PE OF GO O D H O PE. 235 
 
 lent obfervations in the Levant, viz. that the food of the .'^ti^- 
 
 January. 
 
 inhabitants of certain diftri6ls in that part of the world con- V-.^^y^ 
 lifted almoft entirely of bread, figs, and grapes, with fome- 
 times raw cucumbers. Farther, M. de Buffon might have 
 learned from Linn^eus's Amoenitates Academicce^ Tom. I. 
 p. 137, that the athlet(B of former times, whofe principal 
 occupation was wreftling and fighting, for which purpofe 
 a ftrengthening diet was doubtlefs requifite, lived chiefly 
 upon figs before it was the pra6lice to eat flefh. We are 
 likev/ife told, 1. c. that the poor, who were fet to watch - 
 the fig-trees and vineyards, grew plump and fat in the 
 fpace of two months by feeding on thefe fruits, joined to 
 a very fmall quantity of bread ; and that the foxes, which 
 had an opportunity of creeping into places of this kind, 
 ufually got fo fat upon this diet, as to be ufed by fome 
 people as food. 
 
 I have feen a great number of Baledarlians^ who wrought 
 for a long time together at a hard and laborious bufmefs, 
 fubfift almoft entirely upon h aft y -pudding and beer, with- 
 out even a morfel of bread ; neither was this in the Icaft 
 confidered by them as hard fare. I have alfo met with many 
 poor cottagers in Up-landia^ who for a long time together 
 even wanted bread, particularly for their children, fo that 
 they were obliged to bring them up upon pancakes and 
 frumenty made without milk. 
 
 Thofe who in the above-mentioned province or elfe- 
 where have an opportunity of adding a little milk to their 
 vegetable food, may neverthelefs be confidered as living 
 nearly on a vegetable diet ; as, according to M. GEOFFRor, 
 the conftituent parts of milk are almoft entirely the fame 
 
 n h 2 with
 
 236 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. with thofe of vegetables. According to the accounts given 
 1^))^^ me by the Enghfli, many of the poor people in Ireland live 
 on potatoes only, with now and then a little milk ; and a 
 perfon w^ho feveral years ago reiided for a long time in Ruf- 
 fia afTured me, that the common people in fome places 
 there lived entirely upon four-crout and groats ; and like- 
 wife upon four bread, raw cucumbers, onions, fait, quafsy 
 and tradaknay a difh confifting of oatmeal dried in the oven, 
 and mixed up with water : fo that out of thirty thoufand 
 peafants belonging to a certain nobleman who lived on the 
 borders of Mufcovy, there were very few who had the 
 opportunity of tafting either flefh or fifli four times a year. 
 M. DE Buff ON may fee, moreover, in Halle r, Tom. VI. 
 Lib. XIX. a long lift of fuch authors as have produced 
 proofs and inftances that mankind in Europe muft necef- 
 farily be able, and actually are able to go without animal 
 food : and indeed, why fliould it not be fo, as the fame 
 glutinous matter which is fo peculiarly nourifhing in the 
 animal creation, is like wife found in vegetables ? efpeci- 
 ally as, to omit mentioning many other inftances, it is weU 
 known, that the people who are condemned to work in the 
 gallies, as well as many others, can make fhift with a cer- 
 tain portion of bread and water only ; and likewife, that 
 the inhabitants of the Apennine Mountains live almoft en- 
 tirely upon chefnuts. 
 
 The utility of a diet confifting entirely of vegetables in 
 the hypochondriafis, obftinate gouts, and other ftubborn 
 and pertinacious diforders, has, moreover, of late been 
 placed in a very clear light by Dr. W. Grant, in his Ef- 
 fay on the Atrabilious Conjtitution^ p. 399? and feq. in which 
 
 inftances
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 237 
 
 inflances are given of its having not only greatly improved 1776. 
 the patients' health, and given them frelli Hrength and vi- OvO 
 gour, but likewife made them younger than before. In 
 the fame book too we are informed, that this diet mav be 
 fafely had recourfe to by peribns far advanced in years;. 
 and that it needs to be continued for the fpace of fix weeks 
 only, or two years at the fartheft. 
 
 The camelopardalis is, as I have faid above at p. 149 of this 
 volume, the tailed of all quadrupeds when meafured in front; 
 and though it is only found in thofe parts of the Cape colonies 
 that lie farthefb towards the north-weft, merits, however,, 
 an accurate defcription, efpecially in this place, along with 
 the other animals of Africa. The lateft and beft accounts 
 concerning the real form and other properties of this beaft 
 have been given to the public by the prefent Commandant 
 at the Cape, Major Gordon, who fhot one of thefe crea- 
 tures in the diftridl of Anamaquas\ in confequence of 
 which, the public has been gratified with a very good 
 drawing and defcription of it by M. All am and, in his 
 edition of M. de Buffon's Hiftory of Animals, Suppl. de 
 LA Giraffe, p. 46. Of this defcription I fliall here pre- 
 fent my reader with an abftradl. * 
 
 The height of this animal, when it holds its neck ftrait 
 and ere(ft, is, from the crown of the head to the ground, 
 fifteen feet two inches ; the length of it, from the cheft 
 to the anus, five feet feven inches ; from the top of the 
 flioulders to the ground about ten feet ; but from the loins 
 only eight feet two inches ; a difference which proceeds 
 partly from the length of the fhoulder-blades, which are 
 two feet long, and partly from a fliarp procefs of the firfl 
 4 vertebra
 
 j^^S A VOYAGE TO the 
 
 1776- vertebra of the back, which projedls above a foot beyond 
 J^^il^ the reft. From the breaft to the ground it meafures five 
 feet and a half; the neck, which is decorated with a mane 
 Hke that of the zebra, is fix feet long, and confequently 
 twice the length of the camel's ; the head is above two 
 feet in length, and fomewhat refembles the head of a 
 flieep ; the upper lip is rather larger and thicker than the 
 under, but both of them are covered with ftiff hairs ; the 
 eyes of this creature are large and beautiful ; its fore teeth 
 fmall, and eight in number, and are only to be found in 
 the lower jaw, though the animal has fix grinders on both 
 fides of each jaw. Diredly before the horns there is a 
 knob, which proceeds from aa elevation of part of the 
 cranium, and projects two inches above the furface ; and 
 l)ehind them, or in the crag of the neck, there are two fmaller 
 ones, which are formed by the fubjacent glands ; the horns 
 are feven inches long, i. e. a little fhorter than the ears; 
 they rather incline backwards, and are a little broader and 
 rounded off at the ends, where they are encircled with long 
 hairs, which reach beyond the horny part, forming a tuft. 
 In fine, the horns are covered, like thofe of other animals, 
 with a cutaneous and hairy fubftance ; but the interior fi.ib- 
 ftance of them is faid to refemble the lieart or boney part 
 of the horns of gazels and oxen, and to be procefl^es of 
 ■the fcull itfelf. On the horns of this beaft, when aged, 
 •there have been obferved fmall irregular elevations, 
 which M. All AM AND fuppofes to be the llioots of future 
 'branches. 
 
 The colour of this beaft is a white ground, with large 
 rjeddifti Ipots ftanding pretty clofe to each other ; which 
 
 ipots,
 
 Cx\PE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 2^39 
 
 fpots, in the more aged animals, incline to a dark-brown ^ii^- 
 
 Ton nflrv 
 
 or black, but in the others border upon the yellow. The v^ryO 
 tail is fmall and llender, and is terminated by a large tuft 
 of very coarfe and moftly black fetaceous hairs ; the fore 
 parts of the hoofs are much higher than the back parts. 
 This creature has no fetlocks, as all other hoofed animals 
 have. 
 
 This animal when it goes faft does not limp, as fome 
 have imagined, but fometimes paces, and fometimes gal- 
 lops. Every time it lifts up its fore feet it throws its neck 
 back, v\'hich on other occafions it holds erect ; notwith- 
 ftanding this, it is by no means flow when purfued, as M. 
 DE BuFFox fuppofes it to be, but, on the contrary, it re- 
 quires a fleet horfe to hunt it. 
 
 In eating the grafs from off the ground, it fometimes 
 bends one of its knees, as horfes do; and in plucking leaves 
 and fmall branches from high trees, it brings its fore feet 
 about a foot and a half nearer than common to the hind 
 feet. A camclopardalis which Major Gordon wounded in 
 the leg, fo that it could not raife itfelf from the ground, 
 neverthelefs did not ihew the leaft figns of anger or re- 
 fentment ; but when its throat was cut, fpurned againfl 
 the ground with a force far beyond that of any other ani- - 
 mal. The vifcera refembled thofe of gazels, but this ani- 
 mal had no porus ceriferus. The flefli of the young ones 
 is very good eating, but fometimes has a ftrong flavour of 
 a certain flirub, which is fuppofed to be a fpecies of mi- 
 mofa. The Hottentots are particularly fond of the mar- 
 row, and chiefly for the fake of this hunt the bcalf, and 
 
 kill
 
 240 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776- kill it with their poifoned arrows. Of the Ikin they make 
 
 January. 
 
 ^^y^U vefTels, in which they keep water and other liquors. 
 
 M. DE Buffo N, who has very unadvifedly taken it into 
 his head to declare war not only againft Linn^^lus, but like- 
 wife againft his difciples, has, in a prolix introdudlion to 
 iiis Diflertation upon the camelopardalis, {Giraffe^ Tom. 
 XIII.) in a peculiar manner infulted the memory of Dr. 
 Hasselquist, a man whofe merit has flione confpicuous 
 in fever al different fciences. School-boy ^^ pedant ^ blunderer^ 
 Sec. are the terms, as reproachful as unmerited, in which 
 M. DE BuFFON fpeaks of a man, who at too early a pe- 
 riod, alas! for the interefts of fcience, yet crowned 
 with the applaufes of the literati of Europe, fell a vidim 
 to his zeal for natural hiftory. I could Uncerely have 
 wifhed to have avoided this difplay of M. de Buffon's un- 
 generous conduct, that it might not reach to the know- 
 ledge of any others (befides thofe who are already acquaint- 
 ed with the fad:) in how far, on occafion of the defcription 
 of the above-mentioned animal, he has forgot the language 
 of a gentleman ; but my refpe6t for truth in general, and 
 a wifh to throw a light on my j^refent fu])je6t, the hiftory 
 of animals, forbid me to be filent on this head. 
 
 The refpedl likewife which I juftly bear to M. Has- 
 selquist, on account of his merit, and a full convidlion 
 of his innocence, call upon me to defend him ; and that 
 more particularly from the reproaches he has fuftain- 
 ■ed for not having mentioned in his defcription of his 
 camelopardalis, whether the horns of this animal fall off 
 or not. If it be a fault in Dr. Hasselquist not to have 
 mentioned what he could not poflibly fee, and not to have 
 
 defcribed.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 241 
 
 delcribed, like M. de Buffon, in the compleateft manner, .'77<5. 
 
 ' ' i- ' January. 
 
 what he could not pollibly know, I muft then confefs my- V^y>J 
 felf faulty on the fame grounds ; as, though in fa6l I was 
 allowed to draw up a defcription of the dried head of a 
 camelopardalis at the Gape, yet I could not obtain per- 
 miffion to faw in pieces or difTedl the horns, as they were 
 promifed by the governor to a particular friend of his in 
 Europe. It is much to be wiflied, indeed, that M. de Buf- 
 fon had followed Dr. Hasselquist's example in this re- 
 fpe6l, in which cafe his Natural Hijlory would have been 
 much fliorter, much more ufeful and authentic ; and, 
 what would have been ftill better, our oxen and cows 
 would have kept their horns on their heads in the way in 
 which nature has ordained they fliould, viz. without their 
 falling off every third year, in conformity to the ignorant 
 affertion of M. de Buffon, Tom. IV. p. 459? and of the 
 edition revifed by Mr. Allamand, p. 176. He there fays, 
 " Ainii la caftration ni le fexe ne changent rien a la crue 
 &: a la chute des dentes : cela ne change rien non plus a 
 la chute des comes, car elles tombent egalement a trois 
 ans au taureau, au boeuf &; a la vache, &: elles font rcm- 
 plactes par d'autres cornes qui, comme les fecondes dents, 
 ne tombent plus ; celles du boeuf &: de la vache devien- 
 nent feulement plus grolTes &: plus longues que celles du 
 taureau. L'accroiffement de ccs fecondes cornes ne fe fait 
 pas d'une maniere uniforme, 8c par un developpement egal; 
 la premiere annee, c'eft a dire, la quatrieme annee de Tage 
 de bceuf, il liii poufle deux petites cornes pointues, nettes, 
 unies, &: terminees vers la tcte par unc efpece de bourrelet. 
 Tan nee fuivante cc bourrelet s'eloigne de la tete, pouffe par 
 Vol. il I i un
 
 24^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »776. un cylindre de corne qui fe forme, 8c qui fe termine anfli 
 (•y3 par un autre bourrekt Be ainli de fuite, car tant que I'ani- 
 mal vit les comes croilTent." For the fake of fuch per- 
 fons as have not had aii opportunity of being better ac- 
 quainted with M. DE BuFFON and his works, I will juft 
 take occafion to obferve, that this is the celebrated man, 
 who, after a minute inveftigation of every concomitant 
 circumftance (in confequence of which he has likewife 
 favoured us with a particular defcription of the whole pro- 
 cefs) thought himfelf authorifed to advance, that a comet, 
 having flruck againft the fun in its courfe, beat feveral 
 pieces out of it, of which the planets were formed, and 
 has befides calculated the precife time which each of thefe 
 celeflial bodies refpe6lively took to cool. But quite enough 
 has beenfaid of a blunder, which the moft illiterate cottager is 
 able to reilify, in cafe it Ihould happen to miflead any 
 raw fchool-boy, totally unacquainted with natural hiftory. 
 But as we are upon the fubje6l of horns at prefent, I can- 
 not help requefting M. de Buffon to inform me, how the 
 fmalleft elk's horns, Tom. XII. Tab. XLVI. could grow 
 from the fize which, at page 326, under the article ma- 
 zameSy they are faid to be of, (viz. not quite fix inches 
 long;) how thefe, I fay, could grow fo quickly, at page 357, 
 358, in the article coudou^ to the length of two feet? if, in- 
 deed, the nice admeafurements of M. Daubenton, pagQ 
 377? 37^5 MGXCIX. M. C. C. are in every refpe6l to be 
 depended upon. Neither can I better comprehend, why 
 MefTrs. de Buffon and Daubenton make ufe of the fame 
 horns for two quite different animals ; by doing which, they 
 bave induced two other zoologifts, certainly in other re 
 
 fpe6^s
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 243 
 
 fpedls the greateft and moft accurate in Europe, in like ^^^J^/ 
 manner to refer to horns of one and the fame fpecies, for v^v>^ 
 two different animals ; though this, indeed, is not fo much 
 to be wondered at, thefe gentlemen being too complaifant to 
 harbour fuch a degree of mill ruft with refpe6t to the Hijioire 
 Naturelle^ as, in fa6t, w^as in this cafe necelTary ; neither 
 could they eafily fufpe6t fo palpable a miftake in this great 
 work of Meffrs. de Buffon and Daubenton, concerning 
 which, however, I fear, that many people will pafs the 
 fame judgment, as M. de Buffon has done on Seba's 
 tbefaurus. But I muft write a treatife confifting of many 
 volumes, were I to continue to difledl M. de Buffon's 
 work ; I fliall therefore content myfelf at prefent with 
 making, as briefly as poffible, a few remarks on the ca~ 
 melopardcilis and the viverra ichneumon^ (the giraffe and 
 mangoujl of Buffon,) on account of the defcriptions of 
 which M. Hasselquist has been fo ill ufed. 
 
 M. DE Buffon has not been able to point out, much 
 lefs to demonflrate, any blunder committed by Hassel- 
 quist ; but W'hy does he then blame this learned and 
 highly deferving academician f It is, indeed, aftonifliing, 
 that he fhould conflder Hasselquist's defcriptions as pro- 
 lix, when, in f acl, the fame animals are treated of in one and 
 the fame Tome of M. de Buffon's own writings ; one of 
 them in at leaft twice, and the other twelve times as diffufe 
 a manner ; notwithftanding which, this fame volume is 
 Hill farther fwelled out with admeafurements of the 'oaginu 
 and urethra of the rat. Is it poffible here to refrain from en- 
 quiring, what is the ufe of all this r fuice the animal alluded 
 to has nothing extraordinary in the proportion of this part, 
 
 I i 2 and
 
 244 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »776- and {lands in no need of any afliflance with refpecSl to its 
 
 Janur.ry. . /- • i r i 
 
 v,.^-yO copulation, and never has any occalion either tor the catheter 
 to he apphed, or to be cut for the Hone. The very cat itfelf, 
 an animal which every old woman has it in her power to mea- 
 fure and examine in her chimney corner, has likewife been 
 obliged to undergo the moft minute and tedious admeafure- 
 ments in the Hijloire Naturelie^ though at the fame time, 
 on account of the beautiful engravings, which, more than 
 any thing elfe, threw a light on this work, the learned 
 world, according to M. de Buffon's own confeffion, 1. c. 
 page 9, might have been very well fpared thefe trifles. 
 
 M. Hasselquist's Latin, which M. de Buffon fays is 
 no Latin at all, is neverthelefs perfe611y good, and exadljy 
 fuch as is required for the purpofes of fcience, concife, ex- 
 prellive, and eafily comprehended by any one who has 
 fludied the language, and may even be underftood by any 
 fchool-boythat has made the leaft progrefs in this department 
 of learning. It is not Hasselquist's fault, that his defcrip- 
 tion as it is quoted by M. de Buffon, 1. c. page 7 and 8, 
 from negligence, ignorance, or malice, has been fo badly 
 copied from the original edition, fo that e. g. from it may 
 be concluded, that the animal's teeth and tongue are round, 
 and are placed on its head together with its horns, &c. 
 How was it poflible for this circumftance to efcape the cri- 
 tical eyes of the great Buffon, fuppoUng indeed that he 
 underflands Latin, and, as he exprefles it at page 15, 1. c. 
 is capable of feizing the genuine knowledge of nature by 
 means of ia vue immediate de I'efprit ^ coup d'oeil du 
 
 geme f 
 
 In
 
 C A PE OF G O O D H O P E, 245 
 
 In fliort, 1 am forry that Dr. Hasselquist's defcription , '776. 
 
 ■' ^ -•■ January. 
 
 fliould appear dry to M. de Buffon ; but I cannot help V^^y^^ 
 thinking, that if it had been fluffed and feafoned with un- 
 jufl and ili-natured criticifms, with conje6lures and miitakes^ 
 even though it had been compofed in the French language, 
 and m the mofl tumid and high-flown ftyle,. mofl lovers of 
 truth and natural knowledge w^ould have found it in the 
 higheil: degree difguflful. The reader needs only compare 
 M:\jor Gordon's defcription wdth that of MeiTrs. de Buf- 
 . FON and Daubenton, in order to be convinced of the in- 
 iignincancy and futility of all their tedious dedudlions and. 
 calculations^ 
 
 Had M. DE Buffon taken the pains to underftand, and: 
 made ufe of Hasselquist's Latin defcription, inftead of 
 quoting it, merely for the purpofe of criticifing it right or 
 wrong, he would have known, that the head belonging to 
 the fkin defcribed by M. Hasselquist, was four fpans, or 
 at leafl tw^o feet long ; and confequently, that the defcrip-^ 
 tions of Op p IAN, Heliodorus, and Strabo, are by- 
 no means adapted, as M. de Buffon affirms they are, 
 to give a tolerably j,ufl idea of the ca?nelopardalis^ or 
 giraffe \ for, according to thefe, a giraffe, of the fize of 
 ^ camel, has a head not above twice as large as that of an 
 oflrich : a creature which would certainly make a figure in 
 ^Prince p*-'---*'s colledlion of monflers. (Vide Bry dome's 
 Tour, Vol. I. page 93.) We are, how^ever, too well ac- 
 quainted with, and have too great an efleem for, the ex- 
 tenfive genius and learning of the Count de Buffon, in 
 the leafl to fufpe6l him to be of the fame tafle ; although, 
 befides the cLrcumflance above alluded to concerning the. 
 
 headj^
 
 246 A VOYAGE TO THE, 
 
 »776- head, lie teiTiis the camelopardalis at one and the fame time 
 v.,--v^v the handfomell, and, with refpe6t to its legs, the moft 
 enormoiiily dilproportionate animal in the whole creation ; 
 though other people are apt to confider that only as beau- 
 tiful which is proportionable. M. de Buffon might like- 
 wife have learnt from Dr. Hasselquist's accurate defcrip- 
 tion of this quadruped, that neither the head nor legs are 
 fo difproportionate, as he imagines them to be. In fine, 
 Major Gordon did not find this animal fo tottering, lloth- 
 ful, and unwieldy, as it has pleafed M. de Buffon, with- 
 out any authority, but that of his own prolific imagina- 
 tion, to reprefent it in the defcription he has given of it. 
 
 With regard to the viverra ichneumon^ or the mangouft<, 
 I fliall only fay, that at the Cape I had an opportunity of 
 comparing M. Hasselquist's defcription of it with the 
 creature itfelf, and found it remarkably accurate. This 
 fame gentleman having obferved in a note, that the French, 
 when in Eg7pt, are accuftomed to bellow French names on 
 the natural objedls of which they have no knowledge, and 
 confequently have in all probability given the name of 
 rat de pharaon to this animal ; M. de Buffon confiders this 
 remark as an attack upon the French nation. But if M. de 
 Buffon means by this, to excite his countrymen againfl Dr. 
 Hasselquist, he mull pardon me when I tell him, that 
 I am too well acquainted with the generofity and difcern- 
 ment of the French nation in general, to fuppofe that his 
 defires would be gratified. For my part, I can have no 
 indvicement on the fcore of any national predile6lion to take 
 Dr. Hasselquist's part againfl M. de Buffon, as all thofe 
 who are occupied in enlightening themfelves and mankind 
 8 by
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 247 
 
 by the promotion of fcience, are, as being fellow-labourers, j^^^a^r' 
 to be confidered likewife as brethren and fellows of a com- V^/^v-O 
 munity, in which it is neceiTary for each to aflift the other 
 in promoting the objedt of their common purfuit ; in a 
 word, they arc countrymen and fellow-citizens of the com- 
 monwealth of literature. After all, whether there is any 
 foundation for this obfervation of Dr. Hasselquist or no, 
 in neither cafe can it in the leafl affe6t the reputation of 
 the French merchants who are ufed to vifit Egypt, whe- 
 ther they are faid to give French or Latin names to the 
 fubje6ls they fee, or whether they take the pains to learn 
 the Arabic, Turkifh, or Coptic names of them ; flill lefs 
 could it have been M. Hasselquist's intention by any re« 
 marks of his, to cafl a reflexion upon a whole nation. 
 
 To conclude, if M. de Buffon had read and taken the 
 pains to underftand M. Hasselquist's book, with any other 
 view than that of criticifmg Linnaeus and his difciples, he- 
 might have eafily found by it, that Hasselquist's manu- 
 icripts were feized in Egypt after his death, being after- 
 wards redeemed by the munificence of a great queen, and 
 through the confpicuous love and zeal for fcience of the 
 fame exalted perfonage, were ordered to be printed in the 
 manner mentioned in the preface ; and that confequently, 
 the author himfelf could not put the laft hand to his work; in 
 which cafe, indeed, he poffibly, either from memory or from 
 his notes, which were loft by his untimely death, might 
 have added the defcription of the interior part of the giraffe's 
 horn, which M. de Buffon feems to have fo very much 
 at heart. Perhaps, likewife, M. Hasselquist, in order 
 to pleafe M. de Buffon, would have fomewhat cur- 
 tailed.
 
 2 
 
 ,3 AVOYAGEtothe 
 
 It 
 
 1776- tailed his defcriptioii of the mangouJl\ though, as I have 
 vl^l^!^' faid before, it is much fliorter than it is in the Hijloire 
 Naturelie, 
 
 I have doubtlefs faid fufficient at prefent, to convince a 
 man of M. de Buffon's great genius, that even he, with 
 his fupehor talents, is capable of committing blunders, and 
 at the fame time has in particular done great wrong to 
 academicians of the higheft merit : and that if, on the con- 
 trary, he Ihould rather fliew that he is touched with com- 
 paflion for their fufferings, and is at the fame time happy on 
 every occafion to vindicate their reputation when attacked, 
 he would give manifeft proofs of that magnanimity and 
 candor which, in a great man, ought always to go hand 
 in hand with his talents, and which would moft aifuredly 
 add to the efteem which every lover of literature entertains 
 for them. 
 
 Of the tiger-bofch-kat I have made mention above, and 
 had an intention of defcriUing it in this place, (together 
 with the reft of the African animals) from the fkin of this 
 creature vv'hich I brought home with me ; but find that it 
 has fince been fo accurately defcribed and delineated from 
 the live fubjecffc by Dr. Forster in the Philofoph. Tranfadl. 
 Vol. LXXI. for the year 1781, that I can refer the reader 
 to it with the greatetl: pleafure. 
 
 On the 2 1 ft of January, as I have mentioned above at 
 page 169, we took, our departure from Agter Bruntjes-^ 
 boogte. In the afternoon we arrived at Great ViJch-rivieVy 
 where we again refolved to try our luck in the purfuit of 
 fea-cows ; for I was determined not to depart out of the 
 country, before I had made as accurate an inveltigation of 
 
 this
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 249 
 
 this lar^e, though not unknown animal, as I had of the , ^776. 
 two-horned rhinoceros. On our arrivalrat a certain fpot upon v.>^"0 
 Fifcb-rivier<, we found feveral farmers from the province we 
 had juft left, who had arrived there before us. In their com- 
 pany, likewife, came to this place a hufbandman, or, as they 
 are ufually called here, a corn-boor^ from the country near 
 Cajje Town. When we firfl faw him he was lleeping un- 
 der a iliady tree, by the lide of a perfect beauty, who was 
 clad in a light fummer drefs : no wonder then, that fo un- 
 common and romantic a fcene appearing on a fudden in a 
 defert, fliould immediately chafe away all thofe images of 
 defolation and wild horror, which the favage and dreary 
 afpecl of thefe plains had begun once more to excite in 
 mine and my friend's imagination : and I would not anfwer 
 for him, that he would not foon have forgot all his botany, 
 had he fuffered himfelf any longer to be carried away, by 
 the firft delightful and charming impreliions made on him 
 by the contemplation of fo perfedl a produ6tion in the chief 
 of the three kingdoms of nature. On our entering into 
 converfation with them, our voluptuous coni-boor and his 
 beautiful fpoufe informed us, that they had juft been to 
 pay a vifit to their relations at Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ where 
 having experienced for the fpace of Hx months the fweets 
 of the eafe and convenience attending a paftoral life, when 
 compared with the drudgery of that of the hufbandman 
 and v/ine-drelTer, they had given up all thoughts of their 
 former bufmefs, fo that they intended to fell their vine- 
 yard and corn- farm near the Cape, and to look out for 
 fome fpot in thefe parts, proper to carry on the grazing 
 buiinefs. Our converfation on this fubjecfl was now in- 
 YoL. 11. K k - terrupted
 
 250 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. terrnptcd by the arrival of another farmer and a little boy 
 (II^vnJ ^^ their party, who' informed us, that fome wild beail, 
 probably a tiger, had jnfl before come upon one of the 
 hounds by fteaith, and torn it to pieces, while it v/as drink- 
 ing out of the river, on the very fpot where our informer 
 told us he had juft been laying down for an afternoon's 
 nap, having rifen from it only half a minute before. They, 
 as well as w^e, had only heard the dog give one fmgle 
 f(jueak ; after which it vv^as found quite dead. So that in 
 all probability the wild beaft had, previoufly to this, lain 
 in w^ait for the little boy, in order (as they faid) purfuant 
 to its ufual cuftom, to kill him in a fly iniidious man- 
 ner, and then, after a fliort interval, to return and carry 
 him oif. 
 
 In the mean while, this incident put us all inftantly into 
 an alarm, and occaiioned us to take to our arms in order 
 to revenge ourfelves. Accordingly, feveral couple of hounds 
 were put upon the fcent in a thicket clofe by the river fide, 
 w^here the wild beafl ftill lay concealed, while we pofted 
 ourfelves round about. The hounds, v/hich followed the 
 fcent with great eagernefs, foon drove the tiger out, and 
 that only forty or fifty paces from our belt fliot, a little 
 old farmer, who fhot him flying, as it W'ere, while he was 
 fpringing from the ground. The ball was found afterwards to 
 have entered at the upper edge of the anus, and to have made 
 its way through the whole length of the body, till at laft it 
 came out at the animal's mouth ; as a great part of the palate 
 v/as miffing, and the remainder of it, clofe by the fore teeth, 
 w^as bloody, without thefe latter, however, being damaged 
 in the leait. I do not know whether this can be explained 
 
 fjTom
 
 Cx\PE OF GOOD HOPE. 251 
 
 from any particular pofltion of the animal, or rather from ,^776. 
 
 ■' ^ -*• January. 
 
 the circumftance of the ball, in confequence of the refill- ^^^^-^^ 
 ance it met with, having gone out of the right line. On 
 the body of this Avild beaii we found a little bippobofca^ to- 
 tally unknown to naturalifts, which they told me was 
 ufually met with on the carcafles of tigers. They like- 
 wife informed me, that a peculiar fort of fly, much larger 
 than this, in all probability likewife of the hippobojca kind, 
 fubfifted on the body of the lion. 
 
 The animals which I and the colonills in this part of 
 Africa call tigers, are of that kind v»hich are reprefented 
 in Tab. XI. XII. and XIV. Tom. IX. of M. de Buffon's 
 work, under the denomination of panthers and leopards. 
 At the Cape I have likewife feen feveral fkins of the cunoe 
 of M. DE Buff ON, which, by fome of the colonifls, was 
 diilinguidied from the former by the name of leopard, and 
 was laid to live chiefly in the mountains, and to be lefs 
 common, bold and daring, though more treacherous and 
 deceitful, than the animal ufually called tiger at the Cape, 
 or the panther of M. de Buffon : to which, however, it 
 is equal in point of fize, though the fkin is not fo beauti- 
 ful, nor fo much coveted, as it is more fliaggy, and cover- 
 ed with longer hairs, neither is it fo much fpotted nor fo 
 glofly. 
 
 Both thefe forts, when they happen to come in the way 
 of lix or eight hounds of the common fort, which, in fadl, 
 are ufed by the colonifls for this purpofe, are eafily caught, 
 or elfe torn in pieces by them. I faw at one farmer's only at 
 Gantze-craaJ^ about fourteen or fifteen furs of tigers, as 
 they are called, which were faid to have been taken and 
 
 K k 2 killed
 
 2S2 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^77^'- killed withia the fpace of three years, by the common dogs 
 C*-Y^ belonging to the farm ; now and then, however, a dog or 
 two had lolt their lives in the conflid, or elfe had been 
 very much wounded. 
 
 I was told, that a flavc who looked after his mailer's 
 cattle, had been attacked unawares and by flealth on the 
 plains between T'iger-jnonntain and the Cape^ by a tiger, 
 with which he had long ftruggled and rolled about upon 
 the ground : at length, however, the tiger was overpower- 
 ed by the Have, who, notwithftanding the dangerous wounds 
 he had received, recovered. This, though bordering on 
 the marvellous, is not abfolutely incredible ; for when re- 
 venge, or the dread of inflant death, is added to a man's 
 natural ftrength and vigour, he is almofl capable of per- 
 forming fupernatural things. I recoil e6l, moreover, to 
 have read, in Jonston's 'Tbanmatographia Naturalise that 
 a man of the name of Poltdamas, was able, unarmed, to 
 kill a lion. The tiger, however, that we fliot at this 
 place, feemed to me to be rather dangerous to grapple with. 
 It was thought to be old and about the ufual lize. I can- 
 not find in my note-book, whether I had taken any notes 
 of the meafure; but I think I remember that the beaft was 
 two feet high, but much longer in proportion than a dog 
 of the fame height. 
 
 Very early in the afternoon, the hunting party above- 
 mentioned went away, and about an hour before dark there 
 arrived a hord of Caffres, They had got within three hun- 
 dred paces of us, before we difcovered them, being to the 
 number of about one hundred, all men, and each of them 
 armed with a few hajfagais^ or a couple of kirries. They 
 
 marched.
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 253 
 
 marched, moreover, directly on towards our waggon, not ,^'776.^ 
 with the carelefs gait of ordinary travellers, but with mea- O-yxJ 
 fured lleps, as it were ; and, in fliort, with an almoft af- 
 fedted pride and ftatelinefs in their deportment, as they 
 approached nearer to us. Upon the whole, wc could not 
 well have received a viiit on this fpot more unexpected, nor 
 of a more alarming nature ; indeed, it occafioned a vilible 
 confternation in feveral of my Hottentots, at the fame time 
 that it puzzled my friend and me, to think in what manner 
 \VQ fhould receive this nation fo on a fudden, fo as to avoid 
 fliaring the unhappy fate which, as I have already mentioned 
 before, at page i 54 of this volume, attended HeuppexaePv 
 and hisfuit. In cafe of an attack, my Hottentots were too few 
 in number, and too cowardly to be depended upon ; fucii , 
 of them as were of the Bofhies-man's race, and had come 
 with us from Zondags-rivier^ would probably have affitted 
 in plundering our waggon, had they found a convenient 
 opportunity; and who knows, whether they were not in 
 fecret intelligence with the Boiliies-men, who were at this 
 time in the fervice of the CafFres, and belonged to their 
 party. They had long preiTed me to leave Agter Bruntjes- 
 boogle. At leaft I had hints given me afterwards, that this 
 vifit of the Caflres was not accidental, but was paid me in 
 confequence of fome intelligence given them by certain 
 Hottentots 2X Agter Bruntjes-hoogte , However, I had not then 
 time to go into fuch deep fpeculations on the fubjecfl, being 
 entirely occupied by the apprehenfion, left the party under 
 my command, by the fmallefb apper. ranee of cowardice or 
 a difpofition to mutiny, fhould call forth the ufiial entcr- 
 prifing fpirit of the Caffres, I was very fenfible that my 
 
 friend
 
 254 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. friend and I, mounted on our horfes, would have been a 
 ^^^^^^^ match for them, in like manner as the two rnen were who 
 revenged Heuppenaer's death; but in this cafe, we had 
 not a moment to lofe, much lefs had we any fpare time to 
 fetch our horfes from pailure. I therefore refolved in- 
 ftantly to carry matters with as high a hand as it was poflible 
 for me to affume in the fituation we were in, efpecially as 
 I knew from experience, that by this means the Indians 
 might fometimes be kept in awe juft Hke children. Ac- 
 -cordingly, I began with my own Hottentots^ threatening 
 with the moil terrible Dutch oaths my memory furnifhed 
 ■me with, to flioot the iiril man through the head, who 
 iliould ftir a foot without leave, or once open his mouth 
 to the Gaffres ; or, in fine, fliould not, at the fmalleft nod, 
 perform what I might think fit to command. My com- 
 panion, on his part, taking a handful of bullets, put them 
 into a loaded gun of an uncommon length which he had 
 brought with him ; in the mean time frequently addrelT- 
 ing himfelf to me, and making it out to be a very eafy 
 matter (and of the feafibility of which there could be no 
 doubt) to kill with it the whole body of Gaffres at a fingle 
 fhot, in cafe they fhould offer to behave in a hoftile man- 
 ner ; and at the fame time, in order to give foiTxe proba- 
 bihty to this gafconade, did not omit to pradlife a few ma- 
 noeuvres in the true legerdemain ilyle. Wliile Mr. Im- 
 MELMAN was thus with his long gun, beyond all doubt, 
 making a tremendous figure in the eyes of the Gafires, and 
 I was likewife armed with my gun, and the fiercefl mien 
 I could poffibly mufler up, they came towards us wxdged 
 up, as it were, into a clofe body, with three leaders in 
 
 their
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 255 
 
 their front. A Hottentot interpreter in one of the wino-s, ^u^- 
 
 r t ■ n ' Januarv. 
 
 feemed juit going to open with a long harangue; when I v.^^v>J 
 l^ut a fudden flop to his fubhme oratory, by accofting him 
 with a few rough compliments in the Swedifli language, 
 and turning my back upon him. 
 
 This haughty and uncivil reception, which would only 
 have ferved to irritate any other than Hottentots and CafFres, 
 on the contrary, from the very beginning, abafed their 
 pride, fo that they flood like a parcel of orderly, or rather 
 intimidateu, fchool-boys, and waited for my quellioning 
 them ; upon wliich we, in quality of the principal fons of 
 the company, ordered our interpreter to aik them what 
 nation they were of ? Whence they came? and whither 
 they w^ere going ? For the purpofe of making this exami- 
 nation, I called out Jan Skeper, the moll alert and intel- 
 ligent of all my Hottentots, and had the fatisfacSlion to fee 
 him fly to me like a flafli of lightning ; a proof of his 
 obedience, which, indeed, was at this time very agreeable to 
 me ; as it was requifite in order to excite in theCaffres a high 
 opinion of our authority and pov/er : but the flill higher 
 ideas, and even dread which he had conceived of this nation, 
 put his whole body into a tremor, fo that even his teeth 
 chattered in fuch a manner, that he could not utter a word. 
 This unlooked for cowardly behaviour, threatened to fpoil 
 my whole plan ; for which reafon, both from indignation, 
 and in order to difguife the reafon of his trembling, I 
 threatened him very hard, and accofied him in the roughefl 
 manner. I am not certain, however, whether the Caffres 
 Avere not more fliarp-fighted than I wilhed them to be ; 
 2 how-
 
 :256 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 J776. however that be, fome of:them iixed their eyes upon him 
 
 C^v-i^ and laughed. 
 
 Whenever the interpreter of the Caffres offered, which he 
 did feveral times, to enter into a private converfation with my 
 Hottentot, I conftantly took care to prevent it. In fine, the 
 account they gave of themfelves was, *' that they were Caffres 
 from Konaps-rivier^ and were come hither merely with a 
 view of meeting with us, and to fee whether we had 
 brought with us a great deal of iron and copper to ex- 
 change for their cattle; for they knew from report, that 
 we were come from a great diftance, and had long reiided 
 in thefe plains." 
 
 hi the mean while, this propofition of theirs with 
 refpedt to the traffic and cattle, appeared to me extremely 
 fufpicious, inafmuch as I could not at that time perceive that 
 they had brought any live flock along with them ; and 
 thofe which their herdfmen and boys brought to this place 
 afterwards, confifted merely in a few milch cows and young 
 fleers, upon which they fet an amazing high price, and 
 in all probability, intended them for their own fupport 
 during their march. 
 
 In order to prevent their fitting down without being 
 previoufiy afked, I told them without delay by means of 
 the interpreters, that they had my leave to fit down, whilft 
 J gave my anfwer on the fubjecSl of their propofed com- 
 merce. Accordingly they fat themfelves down in the fame 
 order as they came, viz. the three Chiefs in front of the 
 reft. I afked, neverthelefs, how many of them were cap- 
 tains or commanders ; and the three foremoft being men- 
 tioned
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 257 
 
 tioned by name as fuch, I gave each of them a good piece ,^^7^- 
 of tobacco; telUng them, at the fame time, that this was v^^yvJ 
 the way the company's fons chofe to receive their friends 
 the Caff re captains ; but that we had already exchanged 
 our iron and copper in thefe very plains with fome other 
 CafFre friends ; that, however, I imagined that they had 
 not taken their journey in vain, in cafe they called at Agter. 
 Brumjes-boogte^ where they would get enough of thefe 
 commodities from the farmers fettled there. 
 
 When they faw that, in order to get tobacco, nothing 
 more was neceifary than to be a captain, they prefented to 
 me feveral others of the party, as being likewife fKu-fkois^ 
 or captains, and afked for tobacco for them ; but the fcheme 
 not fucceeding, they themfelves laughed heartily at the 
 captains of their own creation. Neither did they fliew the 
 leaft inclination to distribute to thefe pretended chiefs, any 
 part of the prefents that had been made them. However, 
 in order to keep the real chiefs in good humour, I likewife 
 gave them afterwards a handful of dry hemp, which they ac- 
 cepted as a valuable prefent ; and mixing it with fome tobac- 
 co, fmoked it with a high reliHi, while we were talking toge- 
 ther. The pipes out of which they fmoked, were circulated 
 merely among the chiefs, had llems above four feet long, 
 from 3-4ths of which the pith had been taken out, but 
 by what means I am entirely ignorant. Where this hollow 
 part of the pipe feemed to terminate, a bowl three inches ' 
 long but very narrow, appeared to be fixed at the bottom 
 of the Hem, being kept firm and fteady with a band or 
 collar, in the fame way as the iiays of a mall are in a 
 fliip. From the fmall bore and flze of this bowl, one 
 
 Vol. II. L 1 may
 
 258 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 . '776. Yn^Y venture to conclude, that thefe CafFres were blit indif- 
 
 January. ■' 
 
 v.>'v%^ ferent fmokers compared to the Hottentots. 
 
 When they heard that we intended to hunt the fea-coWy 
 and that thefe animals were rather uncommon as well as 
 fhy in thefe parts, they told us, that about Konap-river^ 
 thefe creatures were feen to come up out of the river in 
 the very middle of the day, and both to Heep and graze 
 in the fields there ; where, in fa6l, for the fake of defending 
 themfelves from the attacks of their enemies, they were col- 
 lected in as great numbers as the pebble-flones I a6tually faw 
 fcattered by the fide of Fi/cb-rivier, on the fpot on which we 
 then flood. Though this comparifon was, it mufl be own- 
 ed, in the true Oriental flyle, yet it is probable that thefe 
 animals were really to be found in great numbers about 
 the river above-mentioned ; and that they were far from 
 being fliy, but grazed and llept on land in open day, as 
 the CafFres informed us ; for, in confequence of the un- 
 cultivated flate in which they were, and particularly as 
 they had not the ufe of fire-arms, thefe people mufl ne- 
 cefTarily be obliged to give way to animals of fuch flrength 
 and magnitude. 
 
 When it grew dark, the Caffres flood up, and without 
 any kind of order, or taking leave, went towards a large 
 bufh, at the diilance of a mufket-fhot from us, where 
 they made a great fire, near which they took up their re- 
 pofe for the night. Shortly after we heard a hideous 
 roaring near that fpot, and we conje6lured that it proceeded 
 from fome beafl they were killing. Accordingly Mr. 
 Immelman and I haftened thither, to fee it^ and found 
 the beafl, which had been felled to the ground, lying on 
 I its
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 259 
 
 its riel^t fide, widi its left fore leer bound over its head ; '776- 
 
 <-> o January. 
 
 neither was any other binding or fattening neceflary, as the v-.«-r>*^ 
 animal lay tolerably ilill, though not yet dead ; while five 
 or fix people flood by, and made feveral incifions with 
 their halTagais into its ftomach, wliich they afterwards took 
 out through an opening they made for that purpofe in the 
 chefl. I do not know whether this way of flaughtering 
 beafls is pradifed by any other nation ; it certainly appear- 
 ed to be a very cruel one, though while this bufinefs was 
 difpatching, a good deal of mirth and laughter feemed to 
 pafs between thofe who had the management of it. The 
 whole of this operation, howxver, did not take up a long 
 time, the animal's pain terminating with its life in about 
 two minutes after the firfl incifion had been made. Immer 
 diately after this they fet about flaying the beaft piece-meal, 
 with the afliftance of their hafTagais, and cutting the hide 
 into flices of different forms and fizes. Thefe were like- 
 wife intended to be eaten, as I afterwards learned from one 
 of my Hottentots, who the next day got a broiled piece 
 of it, in exchange for a little tobacco ; and afTured me, 
 that when an ox or cow's hide was well dreffed, viz. firft 
 boiled in water and then in milk, it is by no means a con- 
 temptible difli. 
 
 While we were ftanding to fee the beaft llaughtered, we 
 took notice that all the fpears and haftagais, exclufive of 
 thofe that were ufed in killing the animal, were piled up 
 together in the middle juft before one of the chiefs, who 
 was now obferved to be very bufy in ilTuing out his orders; 
 thefe orders being obeyed without delay by thofe who 
 looked after the fire. Indeed, they did not feem to pay the 
 
 L 1 2 Icaft
 
 26o A VOYAGE tothe 
 
 ^776. leaft regard to our being prefent : however, as it was grown 
 V^I!.^^ very dark, we thought it moft advifeable not to make a 
 long flay. We had fcarcely got home, before their inter- 
 preter came along with two CafFres to borrow onr porridge 
 pot. This meffage our Hottentots interpreted to us in a 
 forrowful tone, adding, that the CafFres ufually kept what 
 they borrowed, elfe we mutl: have a {rusje) or difpute with 
 them. As our porridge pot was abfolutely a treafure to 
 us, and was particularly ufeful to our Hottentots, for the 
 purpofe of boiling and melting their fat, &c. and the 
 CafFres probably could not have withflood the temptation 
 of keeping it, I thought it w^as as well to have a rtisje 
 with tljem at firft as at lafl. I endeavoured to pacify them 
 however, by a civil anfwer ; and fent them word, that if 
 the company's fons had two porridge pots, they would cer- 
 tainly lend one of them to their friends the Caffres\ but 
 that we were then hungry, and were going to drefs our 
 vi6luals that very night ; to which I added, that fome fkill 
 was requifite in order to drefs victuals in our pot, fo that 
 they might not be fpoiled ; for which reafon, I would my- 
 felf take care to have their meat drefFed for them the next 
 morning, as foon as ever they fliould fend it to my Hot- 
 tentots. It is true, they fufFered themfelves to be put off 
 with this compliment ; but we could not tell for all that, 
 whether they might not take it in their heads to fend a 
 fliower of darts in the night, before we were aware of it, 
 through the tilt of our waggon, in the fame manner as 
 happened to Heuppenaer, whofe llory I have related at 
 page 154 of this volume; on which account we fortified 
 that part of our waggon with our faddles, and the fkins of 
 
 beafts,
 
 C A P E or G O O D H O P E. 261 
 
 beails, and defended ourfelves on the iides with bundles of '776- 
 
 January. 
 
 paper, clothes, and pieces of dried rhinoceros's hides. Two v^yO 
 guns, with their muzzles pointed in a proper poficion, were 
 placed at each end of the waggon, fo that we could directly, 
 on the firft rupture, difcharge four pieces ; moreover, in order 
 to increafe the alarm and terror of the enemy, we were 
 then, as well as at the firft arrival of the CafFres on the 
 preceding day, prepared to throw, if necelfary, powder- 
 horns and large cartouches into the fire, which was about 
 eight or nine paces dillant from us : we were likewife on 
 this Gcccafion to have filled our pockets without delay with 
 loofe gunpowder, in order to keep up from our fire-arms, 
 a brifker, though lefs effectual fire, and a continual report, 
 with a viev,' to frighten the enemy at a diifance. We 
 confidered our horfes and oxen too, which, according to 
 our conif ant cuftom, were tied to the waggon all around it, 
 as a kind of intrenchment, having particular reafon to 
 expedt, from the fhynefs of our horfes, previous notice 
 of any attack ; fo that upon the v.'hole w'e fiept tolerably 
 fecure : and though, even after fuch ample preparations 
 for our defence, we thought ourfelves happy to efcape 
 being attacked by the enemy, yet fi:ill we could not help 
 w-ifiiing that we had been able to gratify our friends with, 
 an account of an afiault on the part of the Cafires. 
 
 I cannot help thinking, however, that the inftances w-e 
 have of the deceitful difpofitions of the barbarians in gene- 
 ral, and of the fudden tranfitions which are fometimes 
 made by them from a ftate of peace and tranquillity to 
 that of rapine and llaughtcr, are fufiicient to juftify all our 
 fufpicions, and the precautions we took with refpedt to 
 
 them :
 
 262 A VOYAGE to th£ 
 
 '77^- them ; and I am inclined to confider the being maflacred by 
 O^yO thefe fellows, as one fpecies of the fudden death, againft 
 which we are taught to pray in the Litany. I have lately 
 been informed by a letter from Mr. Immelman, dated from 
 the Cape, 25 th of March, 1781, that t]\t Caff res at that 
 time were laying wafte every thing they could meet with in 
 the diltri(fls belonging to the Chriftians : among others 
 Printslo, my old worthy hoft, and the firll: I had at 
 Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ had had the mortification to fee his 
 new houfe burnt to the ground by thefe barbarians, after 
 having loft his numerous herds of cattle, out of all which 
 he had been able to fave no more than fix oxen. A wo- 
 man, of the name of Koetsje, had with great difficulty 
 ^fcaped the purfuit of thefe barbarians, having been obliged 
 •to leave one of her children behind her, which had been 
 pierced through the body with feven haflagais. The lofs 
 of the Chriftians in the article of cattle, is faid to amount 
 to twenty-one thoufand ; while, on the other hand, they 
 could not meet with the third part of that number of cattle 
 belonging to the Caffres, who, Mr. Immelman tells me, 
 were led on by the Captains Mosan and Koba. I cannot 
 fay whether it was either of thefe that paid us a vifit, as I 
 forgot to take down their names, and therefore cannot re- 
 . member them fo as to be certain of them. Juft after mid- 
 night it rained, with thunder and lightning. 
 
 The next morning (being the 2 2d) at ten o'clock, the 
 whole party of CafFres went away without taking leave, 
 after having, under pretence of felling a milch cow, tried 
 to get a fight of all the iron and copper which they fup- 
 pofed I had brought with me : however, that I might not 
 
 lead
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 263 
 
 lead them into temptation, I lliewed them nothing but , ^n^- 
 
 ^ '-' January. 
 
 plants and infe6ls, which I told them were the only com- v^^ry^ 
 modities I had of any moderate value ; thefe, however, I 
 fuppofed they would hardly take in exchange for their 
 cow, which we ptherwife, on account of the flore we fet 
 by the milk, would have been glad to have bargained with 
 them for. 
 
 After this they bent their courfe towards Agter Bruntjes- 
 hoogte^ and were met on the road by three farmers, viz. 
 Jacob Potgieter, with his fon Flip, and his fon-in-law 
 Frans Labeskanje, who were coming with three Hot- 
 tentots, according to agreement, to ftrengthen our party, 
 and to enable us the better to block up and flioot the 
 fea-cows. 
 
 As the colonics are flricflly prohibited from carrying on 
 any kind of commerce with the Hottentots and CafFres, and 
 as befides thefe peafants, not without reafon, fufpedled the 
 CafFre's deligns, apprehending at the fame time, that they 
 would at lead flrike a terror by their arrival, in thofe whom 
 they left at home behind them, they at firft endeavoured 
 to diffuade them in a friendly manner from going to the 
 town ; and afterwards had recourfe to threats, which fuc- 
 ceeded better ; aflliring them, that in cafe they would not 
 go their way peaceably, they would make a great havock 
 among them with their fire-arms ; which, in fa6l, as they 
 were on horfeback, they might do without danger, by fuc- 
 ceflively difpatching them in fmall parties, in the fame 
 manner as I mentioned at page 143 and 154 of this vo- 
 lume, and of which the Caffres were not ignorant. 
 
 As
 
 2^4 ^ VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. As to the external appearance of thefe Caffres^ I found 
 
 \J-r^ them not fo tall in general as the Gonaquas Hottentots, and 
 
 the CafFres I faw with that people ; neither were they 
 
 nearly fo much adorned with copper and beads : they were, 
 
 however, full as robuft and manly. 
 
 While I was waiting for the arrival of the three farmers, 
 and there was no particular natural fubje6l about this fpot 
 that required peculiar attention, I fet about digging in the 
 earth after antiquities. I had before this, during my firft 
 refidence near Groote Fifcb-rivier, obferved heaps of ilones 
 larger than thofe few I had feen near Ki^akeel-f^ivier, and 
 compofed of ftones equal to them in bulk. They were 
 from three to four and four feet and a half high, and the 
 bafes of them meafured fix, eight, and ten feet in diameter. 
 They like wife lay ten, twenty, fifty, two hundred paces, 
 and even farther afunder, but conftantly between two par- 
 ticular points of the compafs, and confequently in right 
 lines, and thofe always running parallel to each other. 
 
 I likewife found thefe heaps of fiones in a confiderable 
 number, and knew from the account I had on this fubjedt 
 from the colonifts, that they extended in this manner feve- 
 ral days journey from this fpot, in a northern direction, 
 through uncultivated plains, into the Sneefe Vlaktens, as 
 they are called, where they are faid to be met with in a 
 flill greater number of parallel lines. Thefe monuments 
 are therefore confidered as irrefragable proofs, that this 
 tra6l of country was formerly inhabited by a race of peo- 
 ple, who were more powerful and numerous than ei- 
 ther the Hottentots or CafFres, whofe fepulchral rites, as 
 
 well
 
 C A P E OF GO O D H O P E. 265 
 
 well as other cuftoms, and above all their inconceivable r^^/jf^; 
 lloth and idlenefs, are too well known for them to be fuf- V^y^s-' 
 pe6ted of fuch large, and, to all appearance, ufclefs under- 
 takings. 
 
 In the mean while, in order to difcover the intention of 
 thefe heaps of ftones being colle6led together, many con- 
 jectures were formed with various degrees of probability : 
 thus much, however, is certain, that they could not have 
 been collecSled together by any other than Haves. But 
 whether this w^as done by a people bending beneath the 
 voke of fuperftition, or elfe under that of monarchy or of 
 an '^I'g'ifchy, I fliall not pretend to determine. In the 
 firft cafe it is probable, that they conceived themfelves 
 bound to make offerings like thefe, of ufelefs toil and trou- 
 ble, to their tyrannical gods ; or in the latter cafe, were 
 compelled to pay this tribute to the pride and vanity of 
 fome tyrant, who even after death, for the fake of immor- 
 talizing and procuring vain and imaginary honours for his 
 duft, contrived in tliis manner to walle the flrength, and 
 exhauft the forces of his furviving fubjecSls. Under the 
 influence of which foever of thefe caufes the ftones have 
 heen accumuiatoJ, they are certainly the relicks of fome 
 early period, in which, whetnei fmarting under the fcourge 
 of fuperftition or that of a tyrant, fome populous nation has 
 dwindled away to a few fcattered herdfmen, or elfe has 
 been degraded to the prefent: race of Caffi^es, Hottentots, 
 Boftiies-men, and favages. 
 
 In fome few heaps of ftones, I obferved that the founda- 
 tions only had been laid, or perhaps the ftones had been 
 carried off", till the remainder was level with the furface of 
 
 Vol. II. M m the
 
 266 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ian'7-r' ^^^ earth. As thefe feemed moil convenient for the pur- 
 ^^^o-^ pofe of exploring the ground, Mr. Immelman and I rode 
 nearly tHree miles to one of them, which was in the vici- 
 nity of Koks-craaly in order, as I faid before, to fearch af- 
 ter antiquities, or any relicks whatever of antient times, 
 concerning which I was in hopes of getting information. 
 
 A bar of iron, two feet long, which we had taken with 
 us in order to dig up bulbs and roots with it in the courfe 
 of our journey, was the only inftrument we had fit for our 
 purpofe ; and we had not an opportunity of taking any 
 more hands with us by way of afHftin^ us, than the youngeft 
 of our Bofliies-men, a ftout, willing, and alert young fciio,,^^ 
 We met, however, with impediments not to be overcome, in 
 large Hones piled up clofe together, fo that with our united 
 ftrength we could not get more than two feet deep into the 
 centre of the heap, and that not without great labour and 
 trouble ; and at laft found nothing more than fome rotten 
 bits of trees, and fomething that appeai'ed to be a piece of 
 a bone quite mouldered away. The Hottentot who before 
 this, induced by the tobacco which, we promifed him, had 
 ailifted us, though not without fneering us a good deal, 
 and ridiculing us in his own languag-e, >^ ni^^n we did not 
 underftand, at lafl- fairly burlt out a laughing, and began 
 likewife, with an air of great indignation, and moralizing 
 on the matter, to turn his back upon the work. To this 
 may be added, that this diftridt Avas very much noted for 
 harbouring lions ; and that our horfes, which we had turn- 
 ed out upon the paftures, with their heads and legs tied 
 together, had Itrayed away, and were miffing a long time 
 
 before
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 267 
 
 before we could find them again among the bufhes on this ,^^J^^^\ 
 dangerous fpot. ^<yr^ 
 
 In the dufk we got home to our waggon, and were not 
 a Uttle pleafed with the i^undluaHty of the three farmers 
 before fpoken of, who were now come, agreeably to their 
 promife, to affift us in hunting the fea-cow : though at 
 the fame time I was, and am flill exceedingly vexed at 
 having miffed the opportunity of exploring, in a proper 
 manner, and with a fufhcient degree of accin^acy, the heaps 
 of flones occurring in thefe parts ; an inveftigation which 
 would probably tinov much light on the nature of man- 
 ]^ipri ill general, and more particularly on its priltine con- 
 dition in this part of the world. There was a vague report 
 propagated here, that a farmer had found on a fpot near 
 the diftri6l of Camdebo, fome antient ftone ruins. This 
 llory I fliall make no comment upon ; yet, together with 
 the heaps of flones fo often mentioned, it forms a fubje6l 
 worthy of a particular and clofe inveftigation : and this 
 could not be done by any one better than Major Gordon, 
 who, being a member of the regency at the Cape, and a 
 man of great genius and an inquifitive turn of mind, would 
 certainly nave c^c great a claim to the gratitude of the pub- 
 lic by his fuccefsful labours un this fubjea, as he has al- 
 ready by clearing up the remarkable hiftory of the camelo- 
 pardalis, 
 
 Jacob KokS'Craal^ which I have mentioned before, and 
 put down in my map, is a place which is in general paff- 
 able with waggons ; and fronci the fituation of the moun- 
 tains near it, and other circumftances, is faid to be the key, 
 as it were, to the northern part of Africa. It is reported 
 
 M m 2 to
 
 268 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '776. to have obtained the name it now bears from the circum- 
 
 January. iiv.»-»m 
 
 w^Y-O ftance of Jacob Kok, my friend TitZeekoe-rivier, who, with 
 feveral others, had intended to make a long journey a great 
 way up the country, having been detained for feveral 
 months by an unufual flooding of the water ; which indeed 
 was fo great, that the force of the flream even prevented 
 them in their attempts to crofs it on a float of wood. On 
 this, as well as on the preceding night, we had thunder 
 and rain. 
 
 On the next morning, being the 23d, we fet off from 
 hence, in order to go to another i^aitor the river. This 
 day 1 for the firft time perceived that my lazy Bofhies-x^on 
 run fafter and hold it out longer, than I fliould other- 
 wife ever have fuppofcd. The farmers, w^ho had lately 
 joined our party, and who were better apprifed of this cir- 
 cumflance than we, as well as of what was to be expe6led 
 from thefe gentry, obliged fome of them to carry our arms, 
 and at the fame time follow as fait as w^e rode ; our pace 
 in general being an ordinary trot, which we now and then 
 changed to a gallop, for feveral hours together, over dif- 
 ferent kinds of ground. Once or twice, indeed, we made 
 a little flop ; but twice at other time^, Kavnig taken our 
 arms from them and rarricd them ourfelves, we went the 
 fafter, by which means we foon got fomewhat a-head of 
 them, but did not wait long before they came up to us. 
 In fliort, I found then, as well as afterwards, that even 
 the oldeft of thefe fellows would run about twenty miles 
 in the fpace of three or four hours, without appearing to 
 be extremely fatigued by it. The farmers moreover aflured 
 me, that they knew of Bofliies-men, who could hold out 
 
 in
 
 C A PE OF G O O D H O P E, 269 
 
 ?6. 
 
 ill this manner all day long ; and had, by this means, ran j^^J^„^y^ 
 down, and with their own hands deftroyed, many elks or v.-o"<^ 
 hart-beefts, efpecially when thefe creatures had been pre- 
 vioufly wounded. Indeed, mofl of the people belonging to 
 this nation are obliged, for their fupport,to acquire this fwift- 
 nefs of foot ; to which, befides their manner of life, and their 
 education from their infancy, cannot but difpofe them. 
 
 Towards evening, after having loft our way feveral 
 times, we came by a number of by-roads to a pit in the 
 river, which our new guides, the farmers, knew ufed to 
 be frequent<=^ by fea-cow^s. Fur this reafon, all the dif- 
 f^^cnt ways, by which thefe animals might come up from 
 the river, were befet by us feparately, our hunting-party 
 confifting in the whole of feven perfons ; viz. five of us 
 Chriftians, together with my Hottentot and another belong- 
 ing to the farmers. Befides this, the reft of the Hottentots 
 were ordered to go to the windward and to the more open 
 places, and by fmacking their whips and making other noifes, 
 to frighten and drive the animal towards us, as foon as it 
 fhould make its appearance : in confequence of which mea- 
 furec if ^DDcared to us, that, when at length obliged to go on 
 ihore in queft ot its fu^d, \t muft neceffarily come to the 
 hiding-place of fome one of the hunters. Every one of thefe 
 places were juft at the edge of the river, between the reeds 
 which grew on the dry parts of the river, or on thofe fpots 
 which the water had left, and at the fame time clofe to the very 
 narrow paths which the animal had made for itfelf at each 
 place: in confequence of which difpofition, it would inevitably 
 pafs not above fix inches, or a foot at moft, from the mouth of 
 the fportfman's piece. Confequently our whole dependence 
 
 was
 
 270 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776. was upon two circumftances, viz. that our ffuns fhould not 
 <^^yO niifs fire, and that the Ihot fliould not fail to prove mortal. 
 In the former cafe, the fportfman muft have inevitably paid 
 for his temerity with his hfe ; though in the latter he had 
 reafon to hope, from inftances of what had happened to 
 others, that the fire, together with the report from the 
 piece, as well as the ball itfelf, would confufe the animal, 
 fo as to prevent it from immediately making towards its 
 enemy. 
 
 The banks of the pit, which we then befet, were in 
 moft places fteep and perpcudiv^aiar, and iKo pif itfelf was 
 almoft three quarters of a mile long : but my poft, and tn^i. 
 of my fellow-traveller, happened to be at the diftance of 
 not above thirty or forty paces from each other. To thefe 
 very places too, after we had waited at them an hour and 
 a half, in the mofl profound filence, the enormous animals 
 did not fail to refort. They had already, while on the 
 other fide of the river, got fcent of the Hottentots, and 
 now fiiewed by their fwimming up and down and blowing 
 themfelves, as well as by a fliort but acute and piercing 
 grunt, or neighing noife, that they had a great fnTpioion of 
 thefe pafies. I believe Mr. Im^^^lman was not lefs eager 
 and anxious than myfelf, each of us expeding every 
 moment to have a bout with a huge enormous beaft, which 
 we knew had given certain proofs of its being able to bite 
 a man afunder. Yet were we each of us at times no lefs 
 fearful, left the other fliould have the honour of killing 
 game of fuch confequence. *X\i^ hippopotamus^ however, 
 left us, and had made its appearance in the fame manner, 
 where the farmers were ftationed ; notwithftanding which, 
 
 3 ^^ 
 
 I
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 271 
 
 at that very inflant we heard it fliot at by one of the ,^776- 
 Hottentots. v.^-x-^ 
 
 The fable darknefs of the night, and the gUttering of the 
 Hottentot's piece, together with the loudnefs of the report 
 from it, occafioned by the weight of the charge, and the vi- 
 brations of the echo prolonging the found along the neigh- 
 bouring chain of mountains, all confpired to compofe a 
 moil awful and fuperb fpedtacle, which was flill heightened 
 by the expedation of feeing an animal fall fuperior in 
 bulk to the elephant. This fublime fpecftacle was imme- 
 diately followed by a ridicvilox-is kind of farce performed by 
 o fcxoop of baboons, which, from their calling and anfwer- 
 ing each other along a ftrait line, we could difcover to 
 be encamped on a fleep rocky mountain in the neighbour- 
 hood, with regular out-pofts in the trees on each iide of it. 
 After an interval of a couple of minutes, Ulence again took 
 place till two o'clock, when the other Hottentot fired his 
 piece, and another alarm, though of fhorter duration, went 
 through the baboons out-pofls and head-quarters. 
 
 The next morning, for the arrival of which we ardently 
 long^rl, in Order to fatisfy our curiofity, our Hottentot 
 fportfmen relatea lo viq the following particulars concern- 
 ing the adventures of the night, involved in darknefs, 
 covered up to the eyes in reeds, and overfhadowed with 
 branches of trees, they could only get a glimpfe of the 
 animal, and confequently could not anfwer for their (hots 
 having taken place : and one of them acknowledged, that 
 he was a little confufed, as he could not well fee what 
 he was about ; and for the fime reafon fired his piece 
 too fooD, before the animal had well rifen out of the 
 
 water ;
 
 272 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 jaVuat* ^^'^t^r ' ^^^ Other, indeed, had had an opportunity, both 
 ^yy^U with the ball and fhot that made up the charge, of wound- 
 ing the animal, which went on its road and paffed diredly by 
 him ; but he could not fee which part of the animal prefented 
 itfelf before the muzzle of his piece. As foon as he had 
 fired, he flank away, and diredtly afterwards heard the 
 beatt take to the water. The reft of the Hottentots had 
 obferved one of thefe animals, probably a different one 
 from this, run up on a fliallow along the river fide, and 
 thus make its efcape, without their having been able to 
 prevent it. After this we ftaid Kcie tin the afternoon, in 
 hopes that the wounded animals w^ould die and rile lv^ tv^p. 
 top of the w^ater, but we ftaid in vain ; and to as little 
 .purpofe would it probably have been, had we waited ftill 
 longer, as there grew by the fide of the river a great 
 number of trees, to the roots of which thefe creatures, it 
 is faid, in the agonies of death, miake themfelves faft, by 
 means of their long and crooked tufks. On the other 
 hand, fuppofing thefe two fea-cows to be but flightly 
 wounded, they would be cautious how they made their 
 appearance; and, indeed, in all probability, it would hnve 
 been a dangerous fervice to the fporf-^Vncu wno fliould have 
 ventured to have followed iliem any farther. Befides, the 
 water had now, in the fpace of a few hours, rifen con- 
 fiderably, and had overflowed many fpots fit for lying in 
 ambufli ; for which reafon we departed to another hip- 
 popotamus-pit, lefs than this. Here too we laid, by 
 way of fnare, a large blunderbufs, which the farmers had 
 brought with them for that purpofe ; the Hottentots occu- 
 pied one poft, Mr, Immelman and Labescanje guarded 
 
 another ;
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 273 
 
 another; the oldeft of the farmers, Potgieter, with his fon //z^. 
 
 Januarv. 
 
 Flip, Rationed themfelves at the third, and placed me in ^^^^^ 
 the middle of them. Juft in this part, the banks of the 
 river were of a confiderable height, and the river itfelf 
 was dried up, near an extenlive fhallow, where it was 
 fpread out into a little plain covered with pebble-ftones 
 and gravel. We three then-fet ourfelves down clofe by 
 the fide of each other, in a path made by the fea-cows, 
 making ourfelves pretty certain, as the place was flat, and 
 confequently it was light here, of being able, if any hippo- 
 potamus fhould chance to come upon the fhallow and look 
 about it, to fee it plain enough to kill it, with a volley of 
 three fliot. But, to the great endangering of our lives, 
 we, on a fudden, found the animal much quicker in its 
 motions, as well as bolder than we had thought it ; for 
 while I was fitting half afleep and moralizing on the 
 fubjecfl, ftruck with the confideration, that we, with our guns, 
 had at that prefent moment the dominion over Job's L^^/i?^;-/ 
 or Behemoth^ while on the other hand, the flies, or fmall 
 mufquitos, had the dominion over us, (fo much, indeed, 
 that I was obliged to wrap my face up in a handkerchief,) 
 a fea-cow came rufliing upon us out of the river, with a 
 hideous cry, as fwift as an arrow out of a bow ; at the 
 fame time, I heard the farmer call out, " Heer Jefus /" 
 but fortunately at the very inftant he difcharged his piece, 
 which flafliing full in the animal's face, contributed, per- 
 haps, more than the ball, to make it ftart back ; when 
 fetting up another cry, it threw itfelf into the water again 
 with as great precipitation as it came out. 
 
 Vol. II. N n At
 
 274 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^11^- At this I was not a little alarmed ; yet, what is very fingular, 
 
 January. > o ^ 
 
 K^^y^ not at the clanger, which was real, of being trampled under 
 foot, or being bitten afunder by the beaft, bnt in confe- 
 quence of my apprehenfions, which were merely imagi- 
 nary, of being drowned : for the rattling noife, arifing •: 
 from the creature's running out of the water and along 
 the ftoney beech, immediately fuggefted to me the idea, 
 that the river had on a fudden overflowed its banks : a 
 fuppolition to which I was the more inclined, as I knew 
 that this accident happens more frequently here than 
 at Gauritz-rivier^ (for an account of which I muft refer 
 the reader to Vol. I. page 254 :) and as the hippopotamus'^ 
 w^hen it is newly come up out of the water, and is wet 
 and flimy, is faid to gliften in the moon-fliine like a 
 fifli, it is no wonder, that as foon as I took my hand- 
 kerchief from before my eyes, it fliould -appear to me, 
 at fo near a view as I had of it, like a high column 
 of water, which feemed to threaten to carry us off and 
 drown us in a moment : for which reafon, I ran, or rather 
 flew towards the higher ground, leaving both my guns and 
 my brother fentinels behind me ; but, as jufl at this fpot, 
 I was prevented by the fteepnefs of the river's banks from 
 afcending the heights, and neverthelefs perceived that 
 neither my companions nor myfelf v/ere drowned, it ran 
 in my head, for the fpace of feveral feconds, that we were 
 all of us either dreaming or delirious. The farmer's fon 
 had fallen afleep, and flill continued to fleep very foundly : 
 as to the farmer himfelf, who, panting and breathlefs, every 
 now and then looked up to heaven, and at the fame time, 
 with much aukwardnefs and buftle, was endeavouring to 
 
 make
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 275 
 
 make his efcape, I made all the hafte I could to difengage 
 him from a large wrapper, ..which, as well on account of 
 his gout as by way of keeping off the flies, he had wrapped 
 round his legs. I then afked him what courfe the water 
 had taken when it overflowed ; and he, after a long paufe, 
 anfwered only by afking me in his turn, if I was not mad ; 
 upon which I was almoft ready to put the fame queiiion to 
 myfelf : and even at laft, when all this was unriddled to 
 me, could not help doubting of the truth of it, till I 
 found the farmer's gun was really difcharged ; for the 
 rattling among the flones and the fquafliing in the water, 
 occafloned by the fea-cow, was what I firfl heard, and 
 what made me take to my legs ; fo that I did not attend 
 in the leaft either to the report of the gun or the cry of 
 the animal, though thefe latter appeared to the reft of our 
 party the moft terrible ; fo much, indeed, that they occa- 
 floned Mr. Immelman, together wdth the farmer's fon-in- 
 law, to fly from their pott, though they had feen nothing 
 of all that had happened, and could not eaflly have come 
 to any harm. 
 
 We concluded the chafe, and fpent the remainder of the 
 night in laughing at each other; in chattering and formiing 
 various conje6lures on the fubjedt of the precipitation and 
 impetuous fury of the fea-cow, which, however, was pro- 
 bably as much alarmed and frightened as we ourfelves 
 could pofflbly be : we even fmoked a couple of pipes^ 
 while we liftened to the roaring of the lion, and waited for 
 the approach of the morning. Several Hottentots tiien 
 told us, that foon after the noife and tumult we have been 
 delcribing had ceafed, they had feen a fea-cow, making its 
 
 N n 2 way
 
 276 A V O Y A G E TO THE 
 
 "^11^- way out of the river towards that Ude of it which was \in- 
 
 January. , 
 
 V^^^y,^ guarded. 
 
 On the 25th, from fome traces of the fea-cows which 
 we found in the duft near another ipot, we concluded that 
 many of thefe huge amphibious animals had lately taken 
 up their quarters in a certain pit thereabouts, which we 
 accordingly prepared to lay fiege to in every poffible way. 
 
 In the mean time, we faw a yonng lion make its efcape 
 into a clofe thicket, on the fide of this fame pit, where 
 it might be perfe6tly fafe from us and our hounds. Not 
 much approving of this animal's being fo near a neighbour 
 to us, we thought it beft for feveral of us markfmen to be 
 together at each hiding-place; at the fame time ordering our 
 Hottentots, partly by making a noife and uproar, and partly 
 by the means of making large fires, to frighten the fea-cows 
 from attempting any of the other pafTes. 
 
 Thefe animals had probably been befet in the fame 
 manner feveral times before, as this night we fcarcely heard 
 any thing of them, hi the mean while, however, we 
 flattered ourfelves, that by continuing to block them up, 
 we fhould at leaft by ftarving them, force them to quit 
 their afylum, and expofe themfelves on the land to the fire 
 of our guns. 
 
 On the 26th likewife, we were on the look-out after 
 thefe animals, between the hours of ten and eleven in the 
 forenoon, and alfo juft before dufk, though upon a quite 
 different plan from what we had before, as we meant 
 now to hit them on their fnouts the inflant they fliould 
 flick them up within the reach of our guns out of 
 the water, in order to take breath, or more properly, (as 
 
 4 it
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. ^77 
 
 it is not unaptly called by the colonifls) to blow themfelves. ^ti^- 
 
 J T 1 n January. 
 
 In order that the ihot might prove mortal, we were obliged, v-^rO 
 however, on this occaiion, to dire6l it infuch a manner, that 
 the ball lliould pafs through the cavity of the nofe into the 
 brain. It was merely upon this plan, that we went out 
 after the fea-cows, before we arrived at Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ 
 and were llrengthened by the farmer's party. But we con- 
 ftantly found thefe animals too fliy, to allow us to put our 
 defigns in execution : for although in thofe places where they 
 had not been frightened or wounded, they will often in the 
 middle of the day raife their heads and part of their bodies 
 above the furface of the water, they at this time fcarcely 
 ventured juft to put one of their noftrils only out of it, in 
 order to breathe almoft imperceptibly ; and this only for the 
 mofl part, in thofe fpots in which they were flieltered from 
 us by the hanging branches of trees. Notwithftanding this 
 difadvantageous lituation, in confequence of the acutenefs 
 of their fmell, they feemed ftill to difcern us, efpecially 
 when we were to the windward of them ; as in that cafe 
 they inftantly withdrew to another part. 
 
 The fame night, we betook ourfelves again to our pofls ; 
 and in the dufk of the evening, I law a little animal, 
 v/hich probably was an otter, ftick its head up out of the 
 v/ater and blow itfelf a little, fuffering itfelf for a few mo- 
 ments to be borne away by the current. 
 
 At half an hour after eight, it being already very dark,, 
 a fea-cow began at intervals to put its head up above the 
 water, and utter a fliarp, piercing, and, as it were, a very 
 angry cry, which feemed to be between grunting and neigh- 
 ing. Perhaps this cry may be beft exprefTed by the words, 
 
 b'eurkh
 
 January 
 
 273 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 »776. heurkh burkb, bub-bub: the two firft being uttered flowly, 
 in a hoarfe but fliarp and tremulous found, refembling the 
 grunting of other animals ; while the third, or compound 
 word, is founded extremely quick, and is not unlike the 
 neighing of a horfe. It is true, it is impoffible to exprefs 
 thefe inarticulate founds in writing ; but, perhaps, one may 
 make nearer approaches to it, than one can to the gutturo- 
 palatial founds of the Hottentot language. 
 
 At eleven o'clock came the fame, or elfe fome other bip^ 
 ■popotamus^ and in like manner vifited the pofis we occu- 
 pied ; he did not^ however, dare to come up, though to 
 our extreme rnortification we heard him come and nibble 
 .the boughs which hung over the fur face of the water, as 
 w^ell as a little grafs and a few low Ihrubs which grew here 
 and there on the iniide of the river's banks. We were, 
 however, in hopes, that this way of living would not 
 Jong fuffice animals, one of which only required almoft 
 a larger portion than a whole team of oxen. Thus far at 
 .leaft is certain, that if one fliould calculate the confump- 
 tion of provifions made by a fea-cow, from the fize of its 
 fauces, and from that of its body and of its belly, which 
 hangs almoft down to the ground, together with the quan- 
 tity of grafs which I have at different times obferved to 
 have been confum.ed by one of thefe animals in fpots, 
 whither it has come over night to graze, the amount would 
 appear almoft incredible. 
 
 On the 27th day, wx met with the misfortune of one 
 of our Hottentots having heedlefsly hit the muzzle of his 
 gun againft a rock, fo that it went off and fliot him through 
 4he foot, at the fame time wounding feveral others in the 
 
 lees
 
 C A P E OF GO O D H O P E. 2.79 
 
 legs with the fliivers of the ball fa compofition of lead and '776. 
 
 o V -I January. 
 
 tin) which was fplit in pieces againft a rock. As proviiions V-^-y*^ 
 were now fcarce with us, we were obliged in the day-time 
 to ride a good way round about the neighbourhood in fearch 
 of game. Exclulively of our having had an opportunity of 
 giving chafe, en pqffanty though without fuccefs, to a lion 
 and a hy^7ta^ we had the good luck to catch a young wood- 
 pig, and to flioot a hart-beeft ; but our Hottentots going 
 only two hours afterwards to fetch off the flefli of the lat- 
 ter, the eagles had already confumed the major part of it. 
 In the afternoon it thundered, and we palTed the following 
 night at the fame pofts as we occupied on the night pre- 
 ceding, the fea-cows adling much in the fame manner as 
 before. 
 
 On the 28 th, after fun-rife, juft as we were thinking 
 of going from our pofts home to our waggons, there comes 
 a female hippopotamus with her calf, from fome other pit 
 or river, to take up her quarters in that w^hich we were 
 then blockading. While Ihe was w^aiting at a ra^ther fteep 
 part of the rivers banks, and looking back after her calf, 
 which was lame, and confequently came on but flowly, 
 fhe received a fliot in her lide, upon which flie direcftly 
 plunged into the river, but was not mortally wounded ; 
 for Flip, the drowlieft of all fublunary beings, who had 
 fhot her, and that inftant could hardly be awakened by 
 two Hottentots, was ftiil half afleep w^hen he fired his 
 piece ; and happy was it for him, that the enormous beafk 
 did not make towards his hiding, or rather fleeping-place, 
 and fend him into the other world to fleep for ever. In 
 the mean while his fliot was fo far of fervice, that one of 
 
 my
 
 28o A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^r/^' my Hottentots ventured to feize the calf and hold it faft bv 
 
 January. ^ i 
 
 V-*^-0 its hind legs, till the reft of the hunting party came to his 
 alliftance. Upon which the calf was faft bound, and with 
 the greateft joy borne in triumph to our waggons ; though 
 while they were taking it over a fliallow near the river, 
 the Hottentots were very much alarmed, left the wounded 
 mother and the other fea-cows, fliould be induced by the 
 cries of the calf to come to its refcue ; the creature, as long 
 as it was bound, making a noife a good deal like a hog 
 that is going to be killed, or has got faft between two 
 pofts. The found, hov/ever, proceeding from the hippo- 
 potamus calf, was more ihrill and harfh. It fliowed like- 
 wife a confiderable ftiare of ftrength in the attempt it made 
 to get loofe, and was found to be quite unmanageable and 
 unwieldy ; the length of it being already three feet and a 
 half, and the height two feet ; though the Hottentots fup- 
 pofed it to be no more than a fortnight, or at moft three weeks 
 old. When at laft it was turned loofe, it ceafed crying ; 
 and when the Hottentots had pafled their hands feveral 
 times over its nofe, in order to accuftom it to their effluvia, 
 began diredlly to take to them. 
 
 While the calf was yet alive, I made a drawing of it, a 
 copy of which may be feen in the Swedifh Tranfa6lions for 
 1778, and likewife in Plate IV. of this volume. After 
 this it was killed, difledled, and eaten up in lefs than three 
 hours time. The reafon of this quick difpatch was partly 
 the warmth of the weather, and partly our being in abfo- 
 lute want of any other frefli provifions. The dried Ikin, 
 which I brought home with me, is of the thicknefs of the 
 fole of a thin ilioe, and at the fame time was very ftifF. 
 
 Not-
 
 GAPE flfF GOOD HOPE. 281 
 
 NotwithHandinp; thefe difadvantao-es, I have had it fluffed .^Zl^' 
 
 (-J o ^ January. 
 
 for the cabinet of the Royal Academy, fo as to bear a to- v^^vnJ 
 lerable refemblance to the Hving animal, excepting that the 
 bellv could not be fufTicientlv diflended. On this account, 
 the drawing given by M. Allamand from a fluffed hip- 
 popotamus's calf, and afterwards copied in M. de Buffon's 
 Supplement, could not but be incomplete, in refpecfl that 
 it is too lean, and the toes or hoofs too far diflant from 
 each other. The eyes, moreover, are made too large, and 
 jufl the fame may doubtlefs be faid of the figures given 
 of the adult hippopotamus in the fame place. We found 
 the flefli and fat of this calf, as flabby as one might have 
 expelled from its want of age, and confequently not near 
 fo good as that of the old /ea-cows ; of which I found the 
 flefli tender, and the fat of a tafle like marrow, or at leaft 
 not fo greafy and flrong as other fat. It is for this reafon, 
 likewife, that the colonifls look upon the flefli and fat of 
 the fea-cow, as the wholefomefl meat that can be eaten ; 
 the gelatinous part of the feet in particular, when proper- 
 ly dreffed, being accounted a great deUcacy. The dried 
 tongues of thefe animals are alfo confidered, even at the 
 Cape, as a rare and favory dilli. On my return to Swe- 
 den, I had the honour to furnifli his Majefly's table with 
 a dried fea-cow's tongue, two feet and eight inches long. 
 With refpe6l to form, the tongue of a full-grown hippo- 
 potamus is very blunt at the tip, and is, in facfl, broadefl 
 at that part; if, at the fame time, it is flanted off tov/ards 
 one fide, and marked with /o^es, as I was informed it is, 
 this circumllauce may, perhaps, proceed from the friclion 
 it fulfers againfl the teeth, towards the fide on which the 
 Vo L. II. O o animal
 
 /iSa A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776. animal chiefly chews ; at leaft fome traces of this oblique 
 \^^^^^^ form were difcoverable on the dried tongue I am fpeak- 
 ing of. 
 
 On the fkin of the hippopotamus calf which I had fluff- 
 ed for the Royal Academy, there are fome flifF reddifh- 
 brown hairs, from a quarter to half an inch long, fome 
 on the infide of the ears, and others about the nofe and 
 the back part of the neck ; but they grow fo fcattered and 
 thin, as to be at the diftance of i-8th, or even half an inch 
 from each other. There are alfo hairs upon the back like the 
 former, excepting that they are flill more thinly fcattered and 
 fliorter ; thefe were longeft on the edges of the tail, as I 
 formerly obferved in the defcription I gave of this animal in 
 the Swedifli Tranfadlions, though they have fince fallen off 
 during the fluffing of the animal. The refl of the hide 
 is quite bare of hairs. The tail itfelf is flattened at the 
 fides, and confequently the edges or fliarp parts of it look 
 upwards and downwards, as in the tail of the rhinoceros. 
 
 The tufks, or canine teeth are to be feen on the calf 
 here defcribed, already grown to the length of half an 
 inch ; but thofe of the large fea-cows weigh, according 
 to KoLBE, ten pounds. An affertion which is, however^ 
 criticized by M. de la Caille, at page 349, who afferts, 
 that they fcarcely weigh three pounds. M. de Buffon 
 again, Tom. XII. page 38, fays, that the weight of one 
 of the grinders exceeds three pounds, and that the tufks 
 are each of them from twelve to fi xteen inches in length> 
 and weigh twelve or thirteen pounds. On the other hand, 
 though I have adlually had an opportunity of feeing a great 
 many very large fea-cow-teeth, yet I find that one of 
 
 the
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 283 
 
 the largeft flze which I had brought home with me and ^77^- 
 prefented to the Royal Academy of Sciences, weighs no y^vvi 
 more than fix pounds nine ounces, and is twenty-feven 
 inches long, meafured along the infide.ofits curve; and 
 confequently about twice the length, and at the fame time 
 not half the weight of that mentioned by M. de Buffon. 
 It is therefore to be hoped, that this illuflrious author will 
 excufe my prefumption in doubting the accuracy of his ac- 
 count, efpecially as M. Daubenton himfelf, at page 62 of 
 the fame tome, makes the length of a canine tooth of the 
 hippopotamus to be twenty-lix inches, and confequently 
 twice as long as it is affirmed to be by M. de Buffon. I 
 have not yet weighed a grinder of one of thefe animals ; 
 at prefent, however, I cannot help doubting, whether M, 
 DE Buffon can find any that exceed the weight of three 
 pounds ; for an elephant's grinder, which I brought home 
 with me as a prefent for the cabinet of the Royal Academy, 
 weighs four pounds and a half, and is nine inches broad ; 
 but yet, to judge from the eye, was at leaft three times as 
 large in every dimenfion as any grinder of a hippo}X)tamus, 
 with which I compared it, and of which I have had an op- 
 ix)rtunity of feeing great numbers, in feveral fkulls, in dif- 
 ferent fpots on the banks of Fifcb-rivier, being the relicks 
 of fea-cows which the farmers had fliot there from time to 
 time. From what has been faid it likewife follows, that 
 KoLBE is in this place mofl to be depended upon. M. de 
 Buffon is, however, in the right, when he aflerts, I. c. 
 page 48, that Kolbe took the figures of his animals from 
 other people, and compofed molt of his defcriptions from 
 
 O o a memory,
 
 284 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. memory, fo that no great dependence is to be placed ■upon 
 
 January. 
 
 \,^y^ them. 
 
 The mouth of the hippopotamus is fo large, that though 
 a full third of the enormous tufks above-mentioned in the 
 lower jaw, as well as feveral of the fore teeth which pro- 
 je(5l forwards, ftands above the gums, yet they are not 
 iten except when the animal ojDcns his mouth. 
 
 The hide of the adult hippopotamus bears a great re- 
 femblance to that of the rhinoceros, but is rather thicker. 
 Whips likewife made of this hide are ftronger, and, after 
 being ufed fome time, are more pliable than thofe made 
 of the hide of the rhinoceros ufually are, though they are 
 not fo tranfparent as thefe latter are when new. 
 
 The food of the hix^popotamus confills entirely in herbs 
 andgrafs, acircumftanceof which we are informed by Father 
 IvOBo; and which may partly be inferred from what I have 
 already faid on the fubjed, as well as from the figure of 
 the ftomach belonging to the foetus of a hippopotamus given 
 in Meffrs. de Buffon and Daubenton's elegant work. I 
 therefore do not look upon it as very probable, that thefe 
 animals, agreeably to the affertions of M. de Buffon, page 
 93, or of Dampier in his voyage, fliould hunt after fifh 
 by way of preying upon them ; efpecially as in fome of 
 the rivers of the fouthern part of Africa, where the fea- 
 cows are feen daily and in great abundance, there is not a 
 fifli to be feen ; and in others only a few bajlard fpringer^y 
 as they are called, {cyprinus gonorynchus) which are fcarce- 
 ly as big as a common herring. It is faid, that a fmall 
 fpecies of carp is ftill more rarely to be met with here. It 
 
 is
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 285 
 
 is true, that the fea-cows fometimes frequent the mouths of ^ »776. 
 
 ' ^ January, 
 
 the rivers here, which are full of fea-fifh, and even fame- v^^v^^ 
 times the fea itfelf : we know, however, that thefe huge 
 quadrupeds are notwithftanding this, obliged to go from 
 thence upon dry land in quelf of food. Neither is it pro- 
 bable that they can drink the fea- water ; as an inflance was 
 related to me of the contrary in a hippopotamus, which, 
 having been difturbed in the rivers, had taken refuge in 
 the fea, and yet was obliged to go afliore every night and 
 drink frefli water from a well in the neighbourhood, till 
 at laft it was fliot by fome people that lay in wait for it there. 
 That the hippopotamufes avftually lived in falt-water, I have 
 feen evident proofs at the mouths both of Kromiiie and Cam- 
 tour rivers, particularly in the latter, on my journey home- 
 wards ; w here many of thefe animals bio wed themfelves in 
 broad day-light, and thruft their heads up above the water ; 
 and one of them in particular, which had been wounded 
 by an ill-directed fLiot on the nofe, neighed from anger and 
 refentment. In Krakekamma I faw on the beach manifeft 
 traces of a hippopotamus which had come out of the fea, 
 but had retired thither again diredly. That very atten- 
 tive navigator Captain Burtz informed me, that he had 
 frequently feen on the eaftern coaft of Africa fea-horfes 
 (meaning probably the hippopotamus) raife their heads 
 above the furface of the water, in order to blow them- 
 felves and neigh. I have been induced to be rather cir- 
 cumftantial on this fubjedl, as M. Ai>anson has taken it 
 into his head, in his Voyage au Senegal^ to limit the abode 
 of the hippopotamus to the frefli water rivers only in Africa; 
 and M. de Buffon has taken upon him to fupport this 
 
 opinion.
 
 286 A VOYAGE to 1: h e 
 
 ,1776. opinion, and to render Kolbe's teftimony to the contrary 
 i^^^ liable to lulpicion. 
 
 An old experienced huntfman told me, that he had once 
 feen two hippopotamufes copulate, which they did in the 
 fame manner as common cattle. On this occafion the 
 beafls flood in a (liallow part of the river, where the water 
 reached up to their knees. 
 
 The lize of the largeft of the two fea-cows meafured by 
 Zerenghi, was, according to Buffon, Tom. XII. page 31, 
 as follows : The length fixteen feet nine inches, the girt 
 fifteen feet, the height fix feet and a half, the aperture of 
 the mouth two feet four inches wide, and the tufks were 
 above a foot long, clear of the fockets. 
 
 The method of catching the hippopotamus confifls (be- 
 lides fliooting it) in making pits for it in thofe parts which 
 the animal pafTes in his way to and from the river ; but this 
 method is peculiar to the Hottentots, and is only pradtifed 
 by them in the rainy feafon, as the ground in fummer is 
 too hard for that purpofe. It is faid that they have never 
 fucceeded in killing this huge aquatic animal with poifoned 
 darts, though this way of killing game is pracSlifed with 
 advantage by the Hottentots for the deftrudlion both of the 
 elephant and rhinoceros. The colonifts, likewife, were 
 not entirely unacquainted with the method mentioned by 
 M. Hasselquist, as being common in Egypt, viz. to 
 ftrew on the ground as many peafe or beans as the animal 
 can poffibly eat, by Vv^hich me?ns it burfts its belly and 
 dies. But as this method is very expenfive, and they can 
 generally have this animal for a fingle charge of powder 
 and a tin ball, (hot in a proper direction, they chiefly 
 8 and
 
 C A PE OF GOO D H O P E. 287 
 
 and almoft folely have rccourfe to this cheaper expe- "^n^- 
 
 ,. January, 
 
 dient, \^y^sj 
 
 The hippopotamus is probably not fo quick in its pace 
 on land as the generality of the larger quadrupeds, though 
 perhaps it is not fo flow and heavy as M. de Buffon, 1. c, 
 page 39, defcribes it to be ; as both the Hottentots and 
 colonifts look upon it as dangerous to meet a hippopotamus 
 out of the water, efpecially, as according to report, they had 
 had a recent inftance of one of thefe animals, which, from 
 certain circumftances, was fuppofed to be in rut, having, 
 for feveral hours, purfued a Hottentot, who found it very 
 difficult to make his efcape, M. Ki^ockner confirms this 
 ©pinion, by the infertion of a flory to this purpofe related 
 by one Marais. 
 
 The people of this country did not entertain that opinion 
 of the medicinal virtues of the hippopotamus, as they did 
 of certain parts of the elephant and rhinoceros ; excepting 
 one colonift, who imagined he had found the os petrofum 
 of this animal, reduced to powder, and taken in the quan- 
 tity that would lie on the point of a knife, excellent in 
 convulfions, and particularly in the convulfions {JIuypen) 
 of children. That the flefli is reckoned very wholefome 
 food, I have already mentioned. 
 
 Having already exceeded the limits I had prefcribed, to 
 myfelf, I do not intend to dwell here on the anatomy of 
 the hippopotamus we caught, particularly as the internal 
 conformation of the calves is fomewhat different from that 
 of the adult animal. I fliall, therefore, only briefly men- 
 tion the following particulars : the flomachs were four in 
 number^ and confequently one more than in the foetus 
 
 examined
 
 288 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776, examined by M. Daubenton, which was kept in fpirits. 
 l^^ Compare BuFFON, Tom. XII. Tab. IV. Fig. 2. The two 
 iirft ftomachs, which correfpond with, and were fomewhat 
 flmilar to the ftomachs H. and L. (I. c.) were each of them 
 about feven inches long, and three inches in diameter; 
 the third was nine inches in length, and a little wider than 
 the two former ; the fourth was feven inches long, and at 
 the upper part five inches broad, but decreafed by degrees 
 on one fide till it terminated in the pylorus, which had an 
 aperture an inch in width, being about half as wide again 
 as the cardia, I did not obferve any fuch valves as M. 
 Daubentox has delineated. The firft ftomach we found 
 moftly empty, it containing only a few lumps of cheefe or 
 curd ; it likewife differed from the reft by the fuperior fine- 
 nefs of its internal coat. The internal membrane of the 
 fecond ftomach was rather coarfer, and had many fmall holes 
 in it ; it likewife contained feveral clods of cafeous matter, 
 together with a great quantity of fand and mud. The 
 third ftomach had very vifible folds, both longitudinal and 
 tranfverfal, on the infide of it, and contained cafeous lumps 
 of a yellow colour and harder confiftence than the others, 
 together with feveral leaves quite whole and frefii, and at 
 the fame time fome dirt. The interior membrane of the 
 fourth ftomach was very Imooth, though it was not with- 
 out folds ; in the ftomach itfelf there was a good deal of 
 dirt, with a fmall quantity of curds, which were whiter 
 than they were in any of the other ftomachs. This fourth 
 ftomach in a great meafured covered the reft, being fituated 
 on the right fide of the animal, and w^as found to have 
 the upper part of the melt adhearing to its fuperior and 
 
 interior
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 289 
 
 interior edo-e. This latter vifcus, which was one foot lone: 1776. 
 
 ^ ^ January. 
 
 and three inches broad, diverged from it downwards on \^^\^ 
 the left fide. The inteftinal canal was 109 feet long; the 
 liver meafured fourteen inches from right to left, and fevQu. 
 or eight from the hind part to the fore part. On its anterior 
 edges it had a large notch, being in other refpedls un- 
 divided and entire ; it was of an oblique form, being 
 broadeft towards the left fide, where I difcovered a gall- 
 bladder five inches in length. In the uterus there was 
 nothing particularly worthy of obfervation ; I found two 
 teats and the heart, furrounded with more fat in proportion 
 than the elk- antilope's heart, defcribed at page 208 of this 
 volume ; the length of this mufcle was five inches, and the 
 breadth about four inches and a half. The communication 
 between the auricles called the foramen ovale^ was above an 
 inch in diameter ; each lung was eleven inches long and 
 undivided ; but at the fuperior and exterior part of the 
 right lung, there were two globules or procefTes elevated half 
 an inch above the furface ; and on the fide correfponding to' 
 it, in the left lung, and in the upper part of it, there was a 
 little excrefcence, terminating in a point ; fomewhat below 
 this, yet more forwards, there was found likewife a procefs, 
 half an inch in height. Diredtly over the lower part of the 
 communication formed between the right and left lung, there 
 was a kind of creft or comb, meafuring an inch from the 
 top to the bafes. 
 
 One of my brother fportfmen faid, he had once obferved 
 a peculiar kind of vermin on the body of one of thefe 
 amphibious animals ; but on the calf we had caught we 
 found nothing but a fpecies of leech, which kept only 
 
 Vol. II. P p about
 
 290 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^11^' about the anus, and like wife a good way up in the flraii 
 
 January. . 
 
 V^vO guty where, by a timely abftra6tion of the blood, they 
 maybe of ufe to thefe large amphibious animals; and par- 
 ticularly may a6l as prefervatives againft the piles, repaying 
 themfelves for their trouble in kind. Mod of them were 
 very fmall, but on the other hand there was a confiderable 
 number of them. The only large one I faw of this fpecies, 
 being fomewhat more than an inch in length, I defcribed 
 and made a drawing of ; this is inferted by the name of the 
 Hirudo Capenfis^ corpore fupra nigricante, medio longiiu^ 
 dinaUter ftib'brunneo^ fnhtus pailide fufco, in the elegant trea- 
 tife on worms, which M. Adolphus Nodeer, firft fecretary 
 of the Patriotic Society, is preparing for the prefs. Inftead 
 of the lighter coloured ftreak upon the back, there was 
 difcoverable in fome of thefe leeches, one, and fometimes 
 two longitudinal brownifli lines, which grew fainter and 
 fainter towards the extremities. 
 
 The huge animal, of which w^e have been fpeaking^ 
 has doubtlefs obtained its prefent name of hippopotamus, 
 which fignifies river- horfe, merely in confequence. of the 
 neighing found it makes; as otherwife in its form it bears 
 not the leaft refemblance to a horfe, but rather to a hog. 
 Neither does it in the kaft refemble the ox ; fo it could be 
 only the different flomachs of this animal, which could 
 occafion it to be c^illtd fea-cozv, at the Cape; and, perhaps, 
 it is for the fame reafon, that the Hottentots call it th? 
 /' gao^ w^hich nearly approaches to /' kau^ the name by 
 which the buffalo is known among thefe people. 
 
 From the account given by Bellonius of a tame 
 hippopotamus, which he defcribes as a beaft of a very mild 
 
 auil
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 291 
 
 and eentle nature, as well as from the difpofition of the ,^'^'^^' 
 
 *--' *■ January, 
 
 calf we had juft caught, it follows, that this animal might O-ynJ 
 be eafily brought over to Europe, where it has been for- 
 merly exhibited at two different times in the public fpe6lacles 
 at Rome. (Vid. Plin. lib. 8. and Diox. Cass. lib. 11.) For 
 this purpofe, the capture might eafiefl be made at Konaps- 
 river, where thefe animals, according to the accounts given 
 me by the CafFres, reiide in great abundance ; and milch- 
 cows might be kept ready at hand, in order to rear the 
 calf, in cafe it was a fuckling. hideed, I am apt to fuppofe, 
 that one a little older than this, would not be very nice in 
 its food ; as that which we caught, was induced by hunger, 
 as foon as it was let loofe near the waggon, to put up with 
 fomething not extremely delicate, which had been jufl 
 dropped from one of our oxen. This, perhaps, may ap- 
 pear very extraordinary in an animal with four flomachs ; 
 but there have been inftances of this kind known in com- 
 mon cattle, which in Herjedal are partly fed with horfe- 
 dung -. (Vid. A. A. Kulphers's Befkrifning om Noniandy 
 3:je Saml. om Herjedalen^ P^g^ ^7 — '87.) I have been 
 likewife afllrred, that this method of feeding cattle has 
 been pradtifed with great advantage in Uplandw.^ when 
 there has been a fcarcity of fodder ; and that afterwards 
 thefe fame cattle, even when they have not been in want of 
 proper fodder, have taken to this food of their own accord, 
 and eaten it without any thing elfe being mixed vrith it. 
 
 At noon the temperature of the air was, according to 
 Fahrenheit's thermometer, 104 degrees; and the heat of 
 
 * Hulpher's Defcriptlon of Norway, 
 
 P p a the
 
 293 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 177^- the fun, to which I had been to-day particularly expofed, 
 v!!!vvJ' occafioned me to have a violent head-ache, which, how- 
 ever, w^as fenfibly relieved, by whetting my head all over 
 with vinegar. The length of time we had fet up, had 
 likewdfe not a little contributed to this indifpofition of 
 mine ; notvvdthllanding which, we refolved Hill to con- 
 tinue blockading this place. The following night, how- 
 ever, it w^as uncomfortable and even dangerous to keep 
 "at our polls, in the open air, as there fell a violent thunder- 
 iliow^er, w^hich not only made fome of our fire-arms nfe- 
 lefs, but even extinguiflied the fires w^e had made at the 
 upper fide of the pit ; fo that two fea-cows had the bold- 
 nefs to venture out of the water at this place, and run 
 along the fliallow in the river^ We fired, indeed, a fhot 
 at them in the dark at a venture, but without efFed:. 
 
 On the 29th in the morning, finding that it w^oiild not 
 be W'Orth while to Hay here any longer, we took our de- 
 parture, going towards the fouth, and hunting buffaloes and 
 ioedoesy one of which latter leaped into the river, as I have 
 before mentioned at page 216 of this volume. In the 
 evening, w^e had hardly taken our oxen out of the waggons^ 
 and unfaddled our horfes, before a large rhinoceros pafled 
 within fifty paces of our waggon, probably without feeing 
 any thing of us ; as othervrife, in the opinion of the 
 Hottentots, this enormous animal would not have failed at 
 leaft to have turned our w^aggon topfy-turvy. I have made 
 mention of this rhinoceros at page 1 1 1 of this volume. 
 It was, as we afterwards learned, in the midll of its flight, 
 having been hunted juft before by two of our party. It 
 had likewife got to a good diftance from us, before we could 
 . - 5 get
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 293 
 
 get our fire-arms out of the waggon ; fo that two lliot that we ^776. 
 fent after him, could notpofTibly have any efFedl. Our hounds, C^^^ 
 which at firft were able to keep clofe to the animal's heels, 
 formed a ftrong contrafl: to the cololTal lize of this animal ; 
 while the beaft on his part did not feem to take the leaft 
 notice of them, but, with a trifling rife and fall of the 
 neck, kept on an even and fteady courfe, which w^as a kind 
 of pacing, but notwithftanding rid a great deal of ground ; 
 which pace, however, was, by the report of guns, changed 
 to a very fall gallop, fo that the hounds were in an inftant 
 left behind at a great diflance : and it appears to me, that 
 any fportfman, though mounted on an excellent hunter, - 
 would inevitably be loft, who fhould be purfued by this 
 animal, and Ihould not know how to get out of the light 
 and fcent of it, by fliifting and dodging occafionally. The 
 rhinoceros was faid, in this particular, to refemble the 
 elephant, that without delaying or flopping in the leaft, it 
 will run to the diftance of many leagues from the place 
 where it has been clofely hunted, or in any other way 
 molefted. 
 
 On the 30th, we fet out for Kkine Vifchs river, in hopes 
 of fucceeding better there in our purfuit after the fea-cows. 
 In the night it rained. 
 
 On the 31ft, we hunted fome elk-antilopes, and after- 
 wards met in thefe defer t trades of country with a young 
 farmer, from the Camdebo quarter, who had taken a journey 
 hither, in order to look out, together with a Have and two 
 Hottentots in his fervice, for a proper place to fettle in. 
 In the meanwhile they were feafting on fome of the prime 
 parts of a buftlilo^ which they had fliot. In purfuance 
 
 of
 
 94 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '776. .Qf fhe diredlions we received from this man, we found 
 
 Januarv. 
 
 x-^'-rsJ three rhinocerofes, viz. a female, with her calf of no incon- 
 lulerable flze, and a male, which was much larger than the 
 female; and, indeed, was the largefl of all the rhinocerofes 
 I had €ver fecn. This laft was hit in the flioulder by a ball 
 from one of the Hottentots, who lay concealed behind a bufli, 
 a circuflance which occaiioned the animal to rufli forth into 
 the plain, where all the fportfmen that were provided with 
 horfes were ftationed ; and now, being greatly alarmed, be- 
 took themfelves to flight. The greateil braggadochio in 
 the whole company, was the firft on this occafion to fet an 
 example of prudence, and a fpirit of felf-prefervation in 
 'the extreme, by clapping fpurs to his horfe and galloping 
 oif immediately ; and was the laft to turn back and purfue 
 the maimed and limping beaft, whither it foon turned off 
 towards a different quarter, and by this means at laft made 
 its efcape through a clofe thicket. 
 
 One of my Hottentots, who in fadl was our driver, but 
 whom I had ufed in fome meafure to fliooting, and had at 
 this time entrufted with a gun, that he might aflift the other 
 fportfmen, was accufed by them of having fliewn, on this 
 Gccafion, a greater inclination to fivulk and hide himfelf, 
 than to join in the fport. On which account, I having, by 
 way of puniftiing him, given his gun to one of the Bofliies- 
 men, he did not, indeed, difcover any concern at the time ; 
 yet, perhaps, was even in this refpedl;, capable of being 
 adluated by ambition and emulation, as, indeed, are many of 
 his countrymen ; as a proof of his punifliment having had 
 an effedt upon him, fliewing that very day afterwards upon 
 other occafion<;, though entirely without arms, great boldnefs 
 
 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 295 
 
 and courage ; in confequence of which he, that evening, ran .^^^^;. 
 the rifk of being trampled under foot by another rhinoceros. ^^^^^>tJ 
 
 To conchide, we now quitted our horfes, in order to go 
 with a party of our Hottentots and trace the wounded 
 rhinoceros on foot. We were able to follow the traces of 
 the animal in this manner during the fpace of half an 
 hour, notwithftanding the ground's being very dry and 
 hard ; for a Bofliies-man, who was our principal leader, 
 and went before us with the deepell: filence and utmoit 
 attention, pointing occafionaliy to the earth, was very fkilful 
 in obferving (and regulating our courfe accordingly) where 
 the dried grafs or duft had been difturbed or difplaced in 
 the leaft ; which, with all the attention I was mafter of, I 
 was not able to difcern ; though in more than one fpot, we 
 found, neverthelefs, fome plain and diftindl prints of the 
 rhinoceros's feet, a proof that our leader had taken us right. 
 In fadt, neceffity and cuilom render the fight, fiiculty of 
 obfervation, and judgment of the Hottentots, very acute 
 in this refpe6l ; jufi as, on the other hand, by the fame 
 means they have acquired the talent, which is univcrfally 
 acknowledged, of finding water in fpots they are un- 
 acquainted with, much better than the Chriftians ;■ a talent, 
 which alone ferves them inftead of a compafs,- in particular 
 exigencies, and precludes the neceflity of fuppofing them 
 to be endued with a particular acutencfs in the organ of 
 fmell, as they are erroneoully reprefented to be by fome, 
 who, living at a diftance from the Hottentots, have na 
 great opportunities of knowing this peculiar race of nieii;. 
 This, however, is no argument, that the inftancos/we have 
 of other men who have been endued with a very fine and 
 
 acute
 
 tj^e A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. acute fmell, not much diiierent from that of the hound, 
 
 February. 
 
 V-^^T*^ may not be perfectly true. In the evening, we rode home 
 to our waggons; but the greater part of our Hottentots did 
 not come home till the next morning, after having fliot a 
 young buffalo. 
 
 On the lit of February, my horfe fell down with me, 
 in hunting the elk-antilope, as I have already mentioned 
 at page 212 of this vohime. The fame evening, two of 
 our Hottentot markfmen found a rhinoceros lying on its 
 right fide ; and fo faft alleep withal, that it did not wake, 
 though they chanced to make a confiderable clattering, by 
 their gun-barrels ftriking againft each other, when they 
 firft happened to fee it through the buflies, being then at the 
 diftance of three or four paces only from its hinder parts, 
 and immediately in their fright took aim ; but when they 
 found that the animal did not wake, they gave themfelves 
 time to reflect a little, and, after holding a confulation upon 
 the matter, took a circuit round a couple of bufhes, and 
 having placed themfelves fo that they could point the muzzles 
 of their guns right againft the animal's head, difcharged their 
 pieces both at the fame inftant into its brain : but afterwards 
 again, the animal making a few trifling ftruggles, they 
 were afraid it might come to itfelf again ; for which reafon, 
 as well as for their amufement, they charged again, and 
 fired feveral balls into its cheft. This incident, together 
 with the account given me by an old hunter, of a rhinoceros 
 which he found fo faft afleep, that he had it in his power to 
 go very near to it and flioot it, induced me to believe, that 
 this animal fleeps very found ; though the cafe feems to 
 have been quite otherwife with the one-horned rhinoceros 
 
 which
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 297 
 
 which Dr. Parsons made his obfervations upon, and eavc ^ '776- 
 a defcription of in London. O-vO 
 
 On the 2d5 when 1 went to difledt the rhinoceros which 
 had been fliot the day before, I found that my Hottentot 
 iTiarkfmen, with a view the better to preferve the flcfii 
 from putrefying, had taken out the entrails as foon as* the 
 beall was dead ; I faw, however, very evidently, from the 
 liver, that thefe animals have no gall-bladder ; a circum- 
 jftance about which one of the farmers belonging to our 
 hunting-party entered into a difpute with me, and for 
 which reafon we were at that time very eager to chafe them. 
 
 One of my Bofliies-men, who had been ordered to come 
 to us, and help to cut up the rhinoceros, and at the fame 
 time bring with him a few things which we wanted, put 
 us very much to our fliifts by flaying away. It feems that 
 he had rather chofen to repair to the elk which had been 
 fliot the night before, partly becaufe he preferred the tafte 
 of elk's flefli, and partly as, like the reft of his country- 
 men, he fet great ftore by the linews and aponeurofes of 
 the elk ; particularly thofe on the back of the animal, as 
 forming the heft ftrings that could be got for their clokes. 
 
 Now this Hottentot, though according to our articles of 
 war, as well as from his own experience, he might expe6l 
 to receive a good drubbing for an adl of difobedience of 
 this kind, yet he made his appearance quite free and eafy, 
 with feveral Ihces of a honey-comb in his hand, and mak- 
 ing an excufe in his language, w^hich was interpreted to 
 me as follows : " That the honing-wyzer {cuculiis indicator^ 
 vide page 186 of this volume) had enticed him quite away 
 from that part of the country, w^here the rhinoceros was, 
 
 Vol. II. Q q to
 
 29^8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 1776. to that where the elk lay ; but that he had now brought 
 
 rebruary. ^ ■' *^ 
 
 v.^'rO with him a conliderable quantity of honey to fmear my 
 mouth with." I, on my part, accepted both of the ex- 
 cufe and the bribe ; as my brother fportfmen, whofe mouths 
 began to water at the latter, unanimoufly voted, that the 
 Hottentot had done better in following the honey-guide, 
 than he would have done had he obeyed our orders. 
 
 But where could a Bofliies-man Hottentot, bred and born 
 in the wild and defert plains near Zondags-7ivier, where 
 conld fuch a one as this learn the art of bribing ? Was it 
 of his fimple companions, or rather from the readinefs of 
 the more enlightened coloniils to give thefe heathens in 
 this manner a proof of their forgiving difpolitions ? It is a 
 great pity that I could not determine this queftion with 
 any degree of certainty, a determination which would have 
 thrown much light on the nature of man in his favage 
 ftate ! It deferves, however, to be remarked, that the Hot- 
 tentots in Houtniquas^ who are in a much more civilized 
 ftate, are faid now and then to endeavour to foften their 
 judges with prefents of honey ; and even fometimes to fuc- 
 ceed in their attempts, and thereby to obtain belides certain 
 privileges. 
 
 This day we took an oilrich's neft, and gave chafe to 
 the elk, which I mentioned at page 2 1 1 of this volume, 
 as having fweated blood. At night we laid iiege to a fea- 
 cow-pit, out of which too a fea-cow came running up, but 
 made its efcape, after two of our company had fired at her 
 in the dark, and miffed her. 
 
 On the 3d our Hottentots again faw a couple of rhino- 
 
 cerofes, a circumftance which, for the information of others, 
 
 I and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 299 
 
 and particularly of the pofterity of the colonifls of this 1776. 
 country, with refpe(5t to the numbers, and, as it were, pe- \^yy^ 
 culiar abode of this huge animal in thefe parts, feems to 
 me to be worth noticing here. It may not be amifs like- 
 wife, for the fake of giving the reader fome notion of the 
 difpofition of the Hottentots in general, to mention, that our 
 driver fpent twelve hours in running to a place and back 
 again, where he had recolle6ted that he had left his wooden 
 tobacco-pipe two days before, though he could have made 
 another as good in a little more than half the time. Here 
 it may be remarked by the by, that he walked all the way 
 alone and without weapons, and confequently ran fome 
 rifk of becoming a prey to the lions. Neither this, nor 
 the following night, did we fucceed in our attempts on the 
 fea- cows in the pits of Little Vifch-riviey. 
 
 On the 5th, the three farmers w^ho had come to our 
 afliftance on the 2 2d of January, took leave of us in order 
 to go home. We had kept company with each other much 
 longer than we had at firft expeded ; the reafon of which 
 was, our having had fuch bad fucceefs in hunting the fea-cow. 
 Once, viz. on the 28th of January, it was, as I have already 
 ol)ferved, the fault of Flip. The extraordinary drowfuiefs 
 of this youth, of which I have given an inftance at page 
 ^79 of this volume, proceeded in all probability from a 
 j:>alIion, which yet, for the mofl part, makes others flcep- 
 lefs. For Flip, though a brifk lad in other refpe6ls, and 
 bold and daring to a degree in the chafe, one who had 
 been the death of many a buffalo, and who, at fo early a 
 period as two years before, being out with a hunting party 
 after the lion, had fired the firft ball into the body of that 
 
 Q q 2 fierce
 
 300 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. fierce animal, was yet fo timid with refi^edt to the fair fex* 
 
 Februar)'. - '' " 
 
 s^y^^sj (hat he had long been deeply ni love with a fine girl in his 
 neighbourhood, without daring to let either her or any one 
 elfe know it ; till one day when we were riding cheek by jowl 
 over the defert plains, he divulged his paflion to me, (no 
 doubt becaufe I was a phyfician)- and at the fame time afKcd 
 my advice. I, on my part, prefcribed to him to difclofe his., 
 fentiments to the obje6l of his affedions in writing. Though 
 this way of \vooing was, in all probability, entirely unknown 
 to Flip, as well as, perhaps, to the greater part of the colony^ 
 yet he placed an UTiplicit faith in the remedy, and the phy- 
 fician was inveited with the office of di61:ating the terms of 
 f the billet-doux. The epiftle w^as accordingly written on the 
 
 round hd of my box ; and, as may naturally be fuppofed, 
 in A pretty amorous flyle, though in a curious kind of broken 
 Dutcli, which favoured very rtrongly of the foreign dialedl 
 of the inditer ; but as the girl, in all probability, would lay 
 a greater flrefs on the looks of her lover, who was a fmart 
 well-made young fellow, than upon his letter, I was in 
 hopes that, notwithftanding thefe difad vantages, my epiflle' 
 would prepare the way to his good fortune, than which 
 nothing could give me greater pleafure* 
 
 On the 6th of February, with Mr. Immelman and my 
 nine Hottentots^ I fet out again on our road home to theCape, 
 and m the afternoon arrived at the well of '^ammedackaj 
 defcribed at page 8 1 of this volume. Here I firft began to 
 have an earnefl longing to revifit the Cape, having, almoft 
 as well as could be expelled, accomplifned the purpofes for 
 which I undertook the expedition into thefe parts ; and 
 liaving hitherto, partly by means of the remarkable obje<5ls 
 a which
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 3or 
 
 which actually prefented themfelves to my notice, and ^]'/'^- 
 
 ' ^ ^ ^ February. 
 
 partly in confequence of being in continual expedlation of \^/-y"^ 
 meeting with them, been able to pafs the time with fome 
 degree of pleafure, under more fatigues and difficulties thaa. 
 can eafily be imagined. Befides, I was no\y obliged ta 
 haften back to the Cape, that I might not be overtaken by 
 the winter feafon, and mifs the opportunity of returning, 
 or at leail: writing to Europe, by one of the Eaft-India 
 homeward bound fliips. 
 
 In the evening I rode along with a Hottentot to the fpot 
 where we had lliot the two rhinocerofes on the 1 9th of De- 
 cember, and found the greater part of thefe animals al- 
 ready eaten up or deftroyed ; but the fkulls were ftill in 
 good prefervation. Having taken the leaft of thefe with 
 us, and being about to return to our waggon, in our way 
 w^e found a female rhinoceros with her calf. Thefe ani- 
 mals had probably been drawn out from the place of their 
 retirement by the cool of the evening, and were jufl then 
 coming out to graze for the night. The calf had already 
 attained the Hze of a fmall ox, though its horns were of a 
 very trifling lize, in comparilbn with thofe of the mother; 
 and upon the whole, it followed and was guided entirely 
 by every motion of her's. I would gladly have waited with 
 the greateil patience, in order to explore this animal's man- 
 ner of eating and digging up roots. Sec. but the night was 
 approaching, and it would have been too dangerous an un- 
 dertaking for us two, to pafs the night on thefe plains, 
 which abound with lions and rhinocerofes, without the 
 apparatus neceffary for making a fire. Befides, the clatter- 
 ing noife made by the caparifons of our fteeds, had already 
 
 betrayed
 
 J5 
 
 02 A V O Y A G E T o T H E 
 
 ^77^' betrayed us to the two rhinocerofes, while they flood 
 ^..^-v-O liftcnmg and moving then' ears about jult at the entrance 
 of a narrow vale, through which we muff neceffarily pafs, 
 if we wifhed to reach our Vvaggon before night, hi this 
 critical fituation, therefore, we had no other refource than to 
 ilioot them immediately, or at leafl to frighten them from the 
 ipot. Of thefe two different methods we were moft inclined 
 to attempt the former, though neither our pieces, nor the 
 charge they were loaded with, were any ways adapted to game 
 of fuch an enormous Hze ; my Hottentot having taken with 
 him a fmall fowling-piece only, into which we put a leaden 
 ball in addition to the fliot with which it was already charged. 
 My piece, indeed, was loaded with a tin ball, which how- 
 ever, was not near large enough for a rhinoceros. Not- 
 withlfanding this, we crept on till we got behind a large 
 ipreading bufli, which, with refpe6t to its height and the 
 extent of its branches, was like a tree, and which flood 
 forwards on the plain at the diftance of fifteen paces only 
 from the two rhinocerofes. 
 
 My piece, which had, unknown to me, got damp the 
 night before, went off, to my great furprize and mortifi- 
 cation, with a hiffing noife, and hung fire a long while ; 
 and, inflead of hitting the old rhinoceros in the heart, only 
 wounded her, as we afterwards found, in the pofterior an- 
 gle of the lower jaw. It made her, however, fomewhat 
 f wag about with the fore part of her body, and fnuff up 
 her noftrils, as if endeavouring to difcover her enemy by 
 the fcent ; but as we were to the windward of her, fo that 
 ihe could not get fcent of us, flie advanced forwards to the 
 quarter where fhe heard the noife, clofe followed by her 
 
 calf, 
 
 I
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. -o^ 
 
 calf, Midi a How meafured pace, and feemino-ly full of at- ^^776- 
 tention, in all probability with an intent to fearch the bufli v^^-yhJ 
 all over which ftood between her and us. The blood 
 now began to mount in our faces, chiefly from the appre- 
 henlion, left while we were endeavouring to avoid one of 
 the beafts, we fliould run into the jaws of the other ; for 
 with one rhinoceros alone, a fportfman, who is tolerable 
 agile, may very well venture upon occaflon to play at blind 
 man's buff. My attendant and companion, the fame Hot- 
 tentot who had made fo miferable a figure in the prefence 
 of the Caffres, now ftood to his ground boldly, as he had 
 promifed to do, and did not fire, before the animals were 
 juil upon us; by this means being alarmed, they ruflied for- 
 ward with great violence, as we fuppofed they would, and 
 confequently pafTed us, when the Hottentot inllantly leaped 
 up among the boughs of the bufli, and I fbole off to the other 
 fide of it. Having found our horfes again at the place where 
 we had tied them up out of the way, my curiofity led me to 
 fee which way the two rhinocerofes had taken, hi fadf, I hap- 
 pened to find them much fooner than I expeded ; and at the 
 fame time difcovered, that they were ncarer-fighted than I 
 could have ever imagined, they flanding about eighty or 
 ninety paces from me on the open plain, without feeming to 
 perceive either me or my liorfe, though they flood litlening 
 with their heads turned towards tlie quarter whence I was 
 coming towards them. After this, getting off my horle, 
 and walking on till I got within fifty or fixty paces of them, 
 without any thing to cover my approach, I fired at the old 
 one, which even now did not fee me, only fwinging the fore 
 part of her body from one lide to the other witli great vio- 
 lence.
 
 04 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 J 776- Icnce, and at the fame time blowing fo bard and loud, that our 
 C^^ horfes, which 1 had left in the care of my Hottentot at the dif- 
 tance of feveral hundred paces^ wxre not a little feared by it. 
 Upon this, the two wild beads ran off through the bufiies, 
 where it was both dangerous and difficult to purfue them. 
 The Hottentots, who ^^'e^e better fkilled in this kind of chafe, 
 afterwards told us, that we fliould have done much better if 
 we had fired at the calf, on w^hich the fmall ball would 
 have taken more effed: ; in which cafe they imagined, that 
 the mother would have if aid by the dead body till the next 
 day, when they might have gone there and fliot her like- 
 wife. In like manner they fuppofed, that the calf would 
 have flaid by the body of the mother in cafe flie had been 
 fliot fii-fl. 
 
 It was as dark as pitch before we got to our waggons ; 
 and as here was no beaten path, i was under great appre- 
 henlions left we fhould mifs the road ; though my Hotten- 
 tot was under no concern on that fcore, being quite fure of 
 what he was about. There was, however, great reafon to 
 fear, left in the dark we fliould ride full butt againlf a 
 rhinoceros, or elfe into the jaws of a lion. Once our horfes 
 itartled, a circumftance which did not a little alarm us ; 
 till we obferved, that what excited our fears was nothing 
 more than a porcupine, (vide Vol. I. page 151.) The 
 holes and fubterraneous pafTages made by this, as well as 
 the various other animals enumerated above, and by which 
 the ground was every w^here undermined, occafioned our 
 horfes to have feveral falls, which put us under the dif- 
 agreable neceffity of riding very flowly ; at laft we began 
 to perceive now and then a little glimmer from the fire of 
 
 our
 
 GAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 305 
 
 our brother fportfmen \vho were left with the wap'pon at 1776. 
 
 February. 
 
 ^lam^nedackay and I mult own, that I was not a httle re- \^jry%j 
 joiced at the appearance of this leading flar. When at 
 length we had got to our ^^•aggons, we were told, that our 
 Hottentot huntfman had likewife that day feen and wound- 
 ed a rhinoceros. Juft before dawn two buffaloes came to 
 drink out of the well near which we were encamped ; but 
 though we fired at them, we miffed them in the dark. 
 
 On the 7th we went by Hevy to Kurekoiku^ and lliot a 
 buffalo in our way. In the night we were awakened by 
 ieveral horrid diffonant noifes, which, though quite difli- 
 milar to each other, were uttered at one and the fame time, 
 ib as to form a moft difmal chorus. Among thefe, how- 
 ever, there was one which almoff drowned the reft, and 
 which in fome meafure refembied the difgufting kind of 
 laugh, which the iimple populace in Sweden afcribes to a 
 fpirit they call the Gajiy or the flirieking man, but which is 
 nothing more than one of the feveral different cries ufually 
 uttered by tho^Jirix 7ty£iea<i or fcriech-owl. By the light of the 
 moon we could fee on a hill near us, the glimpfe of above 
 half a fcore hysenas ; and the horrid din we heard was, in 
 ail probability, nothing more than a tumultuous yell, fet 
 lip by them in order to fcare our oxen, and put them to 
 flight, not daring otherwife to attack them ; but thefe, with 
 our ufual forecaft, we had made faft to the waggon. As 
 •I thought one of thefe ravenous creatures prefented a good 
 mark to my piece, I could not help, in diredt oppofition 
 to the advice of the Hottentots, firing a ball at it. The fliot, 
 fo far from fearing them away, rather occafioned them to 
 repeat their attempts to frighten us ; as the whole pack now 
 
 Vol. II. R r . ruflied
 
 3o6 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^11^' ruflied do'.rn from the hill, and ran clofe by iis a*- full 
 
 February. r t • t • n \ 
 
 \v,^-v%j fpeed, which bore the appearance or then' havmg at nrlt 
 intended a general attack. 
 
 On the 8th, we continued our way homewards, when, 
 befidcs a few fcattered hartbeefls, we faw a large herd of 
 elk-antilopes ; we likewife that day fliot a buffalo, by 
 which our Flottentot markfman was in the utmolf danger 
 of being trampled under foot. 
 
 On the 9th we again law feveral elk-antilopes, hart- 
 beefts, and quaggas, paffing by HaJJagai-hofch, We fliot 
 a female elk, from w^hofe body w^e cut out a foetus, which 
 we carried away with us, and the next morning diffecSled, 
 The vifcera we found to refemble thofe of gazels in 
 general. 
 
 On the Toth we met with a farmer, who informed us, 
 that two days journey from hence, two Gaffre princes were 
 at war with each other on account of a few ftray calves. 
 At this place, eroding Bolliies-man-rivier, we went up to 
 a craal of Gonaquas Hottentots^ who, in our prefence, per- 
 formed their military exercife, of which I have made ibme 
 mention at page 158 of this volume. 
 
 On the nth, one of our Bolliies-ifien having been in- 
 formed, that his nearefl relations had removed along with 
 their craal into this neighbourhood, wiflied to take leave 
 of us ; and as he had given us his company and affiftance 
 throughout the whole courfe of our journey, he afked for 
 fomething by way of gratuity or recompence ; which I 
 readily complied with, to his entire fatisfa^tion, by pre- 
 lenting him with a Heel for ftriking fire, a brafs tinder-box, 
 fome tobacco, a knife, and a few glafs beads. He was the 
 
 only
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 3^7 
 
 only marled man in our party, and feenied to have more j^^jf^V. 
 oeconomy than any of the reil, having either for his own V.-orvJ 
 life, or that of his wife, loaded himfelf with the fiefli of 
 the buffalo we had fhot laft; fome of which he carried 
 extended over his flioulders, and the reft hanging on a 
 ftick, for the fake of drying it in the fun. When the 
 time came in ^^ hich he muit part from us and his coun- 
 trymen, he went away without taking any leave. In facl, 
 it is the mode with the Hottentots, (as now, indeed, it is 
 fometimes pradlifed with us) to eclipfe, as it is called, 
 in this manner. However, on my calling out to him when, 
 he was at a confiderable diftance from us, farewell in the 
 Dutch language, accompanied with the Hottentot falutation 
 fkabe^ he anfwered me in the fame language ; at the fame 
 time making feveral aukward bows in the Dutch fafhion. 
 The other Hottentots laughed immediately at this incident, 
 and (probably on this account) took a formal leave of us, 
 as well as of each other, when they parted from us at 
 Zondags-rlvier^ where we arrived in the evening. Here 
 I met with an old Hottentot, who was born with four 
 nipples, the two fpurious ones being rather lefs than the 
 others, and placed three inches lower. 
 
 On the T 2th, we met wdth feveral peafants, who, with the 
 permillion of the prefent governor, Baron Plettenberg> 
 had removed hither in order to inhabit this part of the coun- 
 try ; which, for this reafon, in my map, I have called Plet- 
 tenberg's colony. In the evening about dufk, the ther- 
 mometer was at 68 degrees, when the rain began, which 
 continued all night long, with a fouth-well: wind. 
 
 R r 2 On
 
 3o8 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 '776. On the I ^th, at feven o'clock, the thermometer was at 
 
 v-*<vw 64? and the whole day was overcaft and rainy. We faw 
 a koedoe, and our Hottentot nnarkfman, who had been 
 couriing along Zondags-rivicr^ informed us, that he had 
 obierved one of the fea-cows there, had her calf riding 011 
 her back, when flie came up to the furface of the water, 
 in order to breathe ; but that as foon as fhe had got 
 fcent of him, flie breathed with the edge of her noftrils 
 only out of the water ; and each time after flie had breathed, 
 dived, or ducked her head forward, with fuch nice exactnefs, 
 that her calf likewife appeared with the extremity of her 
 noftrils only above the furface of the water, and was able 
 to blow herfclf too. 
 
 On the 14th we came to Kuga*^ the thermometer, at 
 five in the afternoon, was at 72 degrees. 
 
 On the 1 5.th, the thermometer, about dawn, was at 
 62. We faw fome buffaloes, and three Hottentot fugi- 
 tives, and paid another viiit to the falt-pans, with the view 
 of catching infe6ls. At noon, in the fliade, the thermo- 
 meter was at 90 degrees. We paid a vifit to a little craal 
 of GafFres, which had lately removed to Zwartkops-rivier \ 
 and went to the upper part of this river, to vifit a colonift 
 of the name of Gert Skepper, who had long refided there, 
 partly in conformity to fome orders of government, and 
 partly in dire6f: oppolition to them : for*government, which, 
 though it had long employed land-furveyors, was yet left 
 totally in the dark with reipccft to the geography of the 
 country, had not permitted the colonifts to cultivate or 
 dwell farther to the eaflward than Kabeliaauw-rivierj but 
 
 had
 
 C A PE OF G O O D H O P E. 309 
 
 had left them at liberty to inhabit what part they pleafed p^^^J^^; 
 to the fouth of Camdebo ; in confequence of which, this V^^vv^ 
 fhrewd peafant had gone round about by the way of 
 Camdebo from the Cape to this place, to take poflefTion of 
 it ; and upon this pretence, had got a charter for tlie tenure 
 of it ; when, on the contrary, he would have been feverely 
 puniflied, had he gone by the nearer and better road. 
 We were totally difpappointed in our hopes of furnifliing 
 ourfelves with bread at this place, as the farmer himfelf had 
 chofen to be without it for fome days, fooner than grind 
 the flour in his hand-mill. Confequently, we lived fome 
 time entirely upon flefli. From the 5.th of February 
 hitherto, we had been provided with fome very coarfe 
 meal, or gurgio is, which our Hottentots, with the addition 
 of a moderate quantity of water, had every day kneaded • 
 into dough, and made up into loaves or fmall cakes of ^ 
 feven or eight inches diameter, and about half an inch 
 thick : thefe were baked on the ground, which had been 
 previoufly heated by our fires, with great eafe and readi- 
 nefs, by covering them up well with warm aflies and a few 
 live coals. 
 
 A fmall fociety of Gunjemans Hottentots, whofe an- 
 ceflors, at the time that the Dutch invaded, this part of 
 the continent, inhabited the tracSl of countrv about T'abic- 
 mountain and Cofijiantia^ now lived on friendly terms with 
 the farmer above-mentioned. Bv what I could underftand, • 
 this little fociety had long been without the exercife of any 
 perfonal authority among them, without beggars, and with- 
 out any penal "laws and ftatutes, as well as without crimes 
 and mifdcmeanors ; having been united and governed only 
 a , by
 
 310 
 
 AVOYAGE TO THE 
 
 ^776- by their own natural love of juftice and mildnefs of difpo- 
 ^^.y^' fition, together with feveral common Hottentot ufages and 
 ciiftoms. My Hottentots from Zwellendam feemed to hold in 
 high eftimation the virtue, freedom, and happy ftate of thefe 
 people ; fo much, indeed, that they were refolved to partake 
 of the bleffings enjoyed by this happy race, for the remainder 
 of their lives, as foon as they fliould have finiflied the 
 journey with us at the Cape. For this purpofe, they folicited 
 me to buy at this place for each of them a heifer with calf, 
 which, according to our agreement, they had a right to 
 demand for their reward. As Hottentots, this way of 
 thinking and turn of mind, did not by any means difcredit 
 them. I, therefore, 'advanced for them glafs beads, brafs 
 tinder-boxes, knives, and fleels for flints, to the value of 
 nine or ten rix-dollars ; in confideration of which, two of 
 the beft heifers in their judgment among the whole herd of 
 cattle belonging to the craal, were looked out for them. 
 
 The moft confiderable part of this herd belonged to a 
 widow, who was reckoned to be worth fixty milch-cows, 
 and was (at leaft in this point) the molt refpeclable female 
 Hottentot I was ever acquainted with. She was childlefs, 
 and was to be fucceeded in her eflate by her coufin ; fhe 
 feemed to be paft the middle age, and, in her younger 
 days, to have been a beauty in her kind. Befides a collly 
 Becklace of fhells, and a fpare cap, (vide Plate I. Vol. I.) 
 >( which by the bye I got from her, in the way of barter,) 
 fhe was not better clad than the reft ; having neither more 
 leathern rings on her arms and legs, a better flieep-fkiii 
 .over her fhoulders, and particularly no more greafe upon her 
 body than any of the others. It is true, befides a few common 
 
 glafs-
 
 C A P E OF G O O D K O P E, 311 
 
 elr.fs-beads, I obferved, that two flrinq-s of the fmall ^ l^?^- 
 
 ^ ' o Februarv. 
 
 copper beads, mentioned at page 238 of the fame vokime, <^^--^ 
 were kept by her in a pouch apart, being the whole of 
 her trinkets and jewels, and the only things for which fhe 
 could poffibly be envied by the reit of her fex. However, 
 I am willing to hope, that this vice had taken little or no 
 root among thefe gentle and benevolent people; as the female 
 juft mentioned, who was fo much richer than any of them, 
 was not obferved to take more upon her, and, indeed, 
 fcarcely to be drefTed better than the reft. In fact, the other 
 women fmoked their pipes, without any ceremony, by her 
 iide ; and thefe too were filled by my Hottentots, without the 
 leaft refpe6l to perfons, with a clofe-fpun and better kind 
 of tobacco, which they had brought with them ; while, 
 for their entertainment, on the other hand, a ball was fet 
 on foot, which was to open late at night, and by moon- 
 lliine. Here I muft confefs, that my companion and I, 
 by indulging ourfelves in fleep, lofl a fine opportunity of 
 feeing and defcribing a brilliant Gunjemans-Hottc^itot ball, 
 which was faid to be very different from the dances I have 
 mentioned before. 
 
 In fine, it appeared to me, that the Hottentot widow I 
 have jufl been fpeaking of, was the lefs liable to be the 
 objedl of the envy of her compatriots, as, notwithftand- 
 ing all her riches, flie could not get at more lavory and 
 higher feafoned diflies, and confequently could not have 
 more fafliionable pains and indigeftions, nor any diforders 
 that would entitle her to higher refpe6t than the relt ; for 
 in the hairy leathern facks for milk is this falutary beverage, 
 neither by nature nor art, prepared for the rich in any 
 
 other
 
 312 A V O Y A G E T o T H E 
 
 -^11^' other manner than it is for the poor. They all roaft 
 
 Ttbruary. n r ■\ 
 
 ^^^ysj their 07ikjes m the allies, m the fame lim.ple way ; and 
 almoft every one of them dreffes his meat by boiling 
 it over the coals, as it is a very uncommon thing for a 
 Hottentot to have earthen velTels of his own manufa6turing, 
 for the purpofe of boiling or ftewing his vi61uals ; and as 
 the Hottentots abfolutely deteft fait, they mull eat their 
 meat frefli, or elfe dried in the fun ; though upon recol- 
 ledtion, it occurs to me, that the fame purpofe may be 
 ferved by the addition of a little more or lefs fat. 
 
 Confequently fat or greafe was here, and is univerfally 
 among the Hottentots, who live at a diftance from the 
 Dutch, one of the principal comforts of life ; and is, in- 
 deed, the only gratification afforded to this nation by its 
 herds of cattle ; and which is likely to prove a motive 
 fufficiently powerful, to induce them to be eager after the 
 acquifition of this kind of wealth : at the fame time, I do 
 not mean to exclude other motives, w-hich in all likelihood 
 co-operate with this ; fuch as, for inftance, fome refpe<5l 
 to the honour and advantage of being able to maintain 
 feveral fervants, or cow-herds, as well as the divine plea- 
 fure of doing good to their fellow-creatures. To the 
 stimulus of this latter inducement, I look upon the Hot- 
 tentots to be by no means infenfible ; as I have feen them 
 difplay the greateft hofpitality to each other, when in the 
 -courfe of their bufinefs, or merely for pleafure, they have 
 vifited one another from a great diftance. Befides, it is 
 probable, that in the other well-governed Hottentot craals, 
 any more than in this, no member of fociety is abandoned 
 to any confiderable degree of indigence and mifery. But 
 
 in
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 313 
 
 in confequence of the farther niigrations of the colonills ^J^'^f^: 
 hither, and of the quantity of glafs-beads and other com- V.-o^v> 
 modities which 1 at this time brought to market here, and 
 for which I found a good fale among the fair fex, I think 
 I can plainly forefee a fpeedy and not inconfiderable revo- 
 lution in the turn of mind and manners of this fociety. 
 
 On the 1 6th there arofe fo violent a florm from the 
 north-weft, that wq did not dare to fet out on our journey, 
 for fear left our waggon fhould be overfet on the plains. 
 Tow^ards night, however, the wind chopped about to the 
 fouth-eaft, and was lefs violent, being accompanied with 
 rain. 
 
 On the 17th drizzling rain. At firft fetting out we 
 paired two CafFre families juft removed hither, and after- 
 wards went to the fouthward into Krakekmmna^ paffing 
 by feveral hollows or bogs of different fizes, which contained 
 very few faline particles, but on the other hand, a great 
 deal of rain-water : thefe I have diftinguiflied in the map, 
 by the fame marks which I have ufed for pointing out the 
 falt-pans. I made this round, merely for the fake of tak- 
 ing a curforv view of two harbours or inlets, which I was 
 told a fmall Dutch veiTel had lately vifited, and taken pof- 
 feftion of, as it were, in the name of the government at 
 the Cape, by erecting a fmall ftone of marble, on which 
 they put the company's mark. The Captain of this veftel 
 is faid to have informed his employers, that there was good 
 anchorage in both thefe harbours, and particularly in 
 that which lay to the fouth ; which yet I did not give 
 myfelf time to look at, but have notwithftanding laid it 
 down on ray map from the relation of others, and diftin- 
 
 VoL. II. S s guiflied
 
 314 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '776- p-viillied it by an anchor. Yet, as there is faid to be no 
 
 February, o •' 
 
 L/'Y^i^ river nor fprings in this harbour, it would not be of much 
 ufe to fliips which are in want of water ; but, on the other 
 hand, being nearer to the foreft, it is more convenient for 
 fetching wood and timber. The flrand and the tra6l of 
 country between Zzvart'kops-riviet\ and the rivulet or brook 
 which I have lain down on the northernmoft inlet oiKra- 
 kekamma, befides being flat and without wood, were like- 
 wife found to be low and fandy, but from that part began 
 to be full of rocks and breakers ; and as it was feen from 
 the land, between fouth and eaft, terminated in a fliarp 
 point, with a rock quite detached from it ; which probably 
 was fome part of what, in the Portuguefe chart, is called 
 Point Padron. The weather now cleared up for a while, 
 fo that I got a good view of Sunday river, and the two 
 illands fituated near it : all this, however, requires a more 
 accurate inveftigation, and likewife to be delineated on a 
 feparate chart and on a larger fcale, than can reafonably 
 be expelled in fo general a map as mine ; which, therefore, 
 can only ferve, in this refpe6t, as a foundation for the far- 
 ther and more minute refearches of navigators. 
 
 Government having lately allowed the colonifts to in- 
 habit Krakekamma^ a farmer had twelve days before left a 
 number of cattle here in the care of one Hottentot only. 
 
 On his removal hither, as the farmer was walking out 
 with his hounds after him, a lionefs had killed one of his 
 oxen in the dufk. of the evening, but was feared away from 
 its prey by the noife made by people belonging to the far- 
 mer with their whips, and by the yelling of the hounds. 
 The following day they looked after the lionefs in vain, 
 
 but
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 315 
 
 but inflead of her found her three whelps, which did not ^ '7?6. 
 
 February. 
 
 offer to fly in the leafl, but proudly put themfelves into a \^yysj 
 pofture of defence againfl the dogs, which were nearly four 
 times their number, and which immediately tore them in 
 pieces : for in fa6t, thefe hounds were not much fmaller than 
 the wild beafts themfelves, which moreover were obferved to 
 be very rough and rugged, lean, and feemingly half ftarved ; 
 fo that the lionefs herfelf was fuppofed to have periflied with 
 hunger, or elfe to be fick, efpecially, as flie never afterwards 
 made her appearance in thofe parts to take her revenge. 
 
 On the 1 8th, in the morning, the thermometer was at; 
 67 degrees, fo that probably the temperature of the air 
 near the fea, was here, as it is in general elfe\yhere, 
 milder than it was farther up the country. 
 
 On the 1 9 th we lliot a hartbeefl. 
 
 On the 20th we came to a farm newly laid out, and 
 fituated on an eminence, from which, early the next morn- 
 ing, we faw thoufands of buffaloes in a line one after ano- 
 ther, crolTmg the plains by the fea fide, that were inclofed 
 by a thick wood, out of which thefe animals were then 
 marching, probably with a view to fpread themfelves 
 out in the paftures, and graze at a diilance from, each 
 other ; after having, perhaps, been obliged to herd toge- 
 ther in the night, in order to defend themfelves againfl 
 fome lions. In the afternoon we fliot an old buffalo, and 
 at the fame time arrived at a farm newly laid out, near a 
 little lake, fen, or hollow, filled with freili water to fome 
 depth, where we fliot a few ducks, and I made a drawing 
 of the live buffalo-calf I mentioned at page 66 of this vo- 
 lume. 
 
 S s 2 On
 
 Februi:ry. 
 
 316 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 776 On the 2 2d we met with fome farmers of our acquaint- 
 
 ance, who, with their wives, children, and cattle, had re- 
 moved into Krakekmnma, Thefe honeft ruftics gave us 
 much pleafure, by news of different kinds they brought 
 from the Cape, and from our friends on the road ; being 
 on their parts very happy to fmd us fafe and in a whole 
 flvin, as people had been all along apprehenfive that the 
 Caffres would cut us in pieces; and this was fuppofed to 
 have been adually the cafe, on account of the long flay we 
 had made before we returned. We then took a trip to Van 
 Staades-rivier^ to fee the fame Gonaquas Hottentots, which 
 we had met with before in our journey to Agter Bruntjes- 
 hoogte. But as the current of this river was dammed up 
 in a confiderable degree by ftorms and the furge of the fea, 
 wx were obliged next morning to go back by a road1:wo 
 hours round about, before, on account of mountains and 
 other fuch impediments, we could find a fliallower place ; 
 by which at length, however, we palfed this river. We 
 there met with feveral Hottentot families, who called them- 
 felves Damaquas^ and feemed to have a greater affinity to 
 the Caffres than the Gonaquas had. Then wx came to 
 a pretty flecp hill, which, though only a few hundred yards 
 long, took fix oxen a good hour's work and hard tugging 
 to go up it with the waggon, which might, had there been 
 occafion for it, have been drawn by one pair only on level 
 ground. — On the 2 2d we flopped at Galge-bofch, — On the 
 23d at Lorris-rivier^ and on the 24th we fiaid at Camtours- 
 riviery with Captain KiEs, whom I mentioned at page i of 
 tliis volume ; and w^ho, in confideration of a trifle that I 
 
 gave
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 317 
 
 o-ave him to boot, fwopped with me for two of my oxen, _. ^776. 
 
 O '' sri J y February. 
 
 which were become quite ufelefs to me. A pair of young v^\^ 
 Hvely oxen, full of fire and fpirit, and as fwift-footed as 
 deer, which I received inllead of thefe, were each of them 
 immediately yoked with a ileady old ox, and in the fpace 
 of a few hours were pretty well broke in, with the ailill- 
 ance of the large whip. In fa61:, the reader muft not ima- 
 gine that thefe animals are as flow and heavy in Africa as 
 they are in our country, where they are obliged to be kept 
 within doors during our long winters : but fliould recol- 
 le6t, on the contrary, what I have related at page 2 3 8 of 
 this volume, concerning a Hottentot who had trained up 
 his pack-ox to hunting. 
 
 On the 26th we arrived at Cabeljaauw-rivier \ and the 
 fame day, the bailiff of the farm of this name, Mr. Im- 
 MELMAN and I rode towards the lower part of CamtoiirS" 
 rivier, in order to look out for the fea-cows ; of the way 
 of life and manners of thefe anim^als, I have already fpoken 
 at page 284 of this volume. To what has been there ad- 
 vanced I will add, that we now faw thefe animals going out 
 to fea with the tide, as, indeed, it is faid, they are in general 
 ufed to do. At this time they appeared to enjoy them- 
 felves, by blowing, rolling, and toffing about in the water, 
 which was here already fait, but were faid to return in 
 greater filence with the flood tide. On account of the 
 rufhes and weeds which grew at the fide of the river, our 
 fiiot did not take place ; by which means likewife the fea- 
 cows were made fo fliy, that for a long while after they 
 could not be attacked with any hopes of fuccefs. 
 
 There
 
 3i8 A VOYAGE to-The 
 
 '776- There was a fiiigle track more beaten than the others 
 
 v„/-YN*^ t)y the buffaloes, which led to the lower part of the river 
 through a very clofe thicket full of thorns and briars, but 
 otherwife cut through in every diredion with a labyrinth 
 of buifalo-paths. An old buffalo, with hardly any hair 
 upon its hide, w^hich rufhed out of a bufli clofe to us, and 
 was very near knocking vis down, confounded our guide, fo 
 that he lofl his ufual marks on the road ; in confequence 
 of which, we w^ere obliged to ride backwards and forwards 
 above two hours, being all the wdiile in no fmall danger 
 from the buffaloes ; and abfolutely uncertain w^hether we 
 fliould be able to get out of the labyrinth in the fpace of 
 as many days, efpecially if the fun did not fliine out, 
 whereby we might difcover whereabouts we were. After 
 this, we gave chafe to and wounded a hartbeejl on the 
 open plains. 
 
 On the 28th we rode to our old and opulent friend 
 Jacob Kok, near Sea-cow river ; where, after an abfence 
 of about three months, during which w^e had been con- 
 tinually fhifting our lodging, w^e now, by the care of our 
 kind hoftefs, had an opportunity of refting our wxary limbs 
 and bodies broke down, as it were, with fatigue, on the 
 fofteft beds in the belt bed-chamber. But fcarcely two nights 
 had paffed, after fo agreeable a change, before we found 
 ourfelves, (while finking in the yielding down,) involved in 
 heavy though reftlefs flumbers, attended with the moft un- 
 eafy dreams ; flumbers with which we had to ftruggle at 
 a late hour every morning, almoft as if we had been in 
 the agonies of death: inftead of this, before our return 
 3 hither,
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 319 
 
 hither, though on the ground, and in the open air, we j^^js. 
 had ever enjoyed an eafy, cool, and refrefliing lleep ; out V^-vxJ 
 of which we were accuftomed to awake of our own accord, 
 as early and brifk: as the reft of the animal creation, which 
 awoke with the lirft dawn of day. On the 29th, the day 
 after our arrival, it rained all day long, with the wind at 
 fouth-eaft. 
 
 March the ifl and 2d rainy, with the wind at fouth- 
 eaft. The thermometer at 72. We ftaid with our worthy 
 and agreeable hofts till the 7th of this month. Now and 
 then, during this period, I rode with my hoft to the fea- 
 fliore, and treated myfelf with oyfters, at the fame time 
 taking fome home with me. Some time before this, he 
 had found in the ftrand there a bottle of red wine, which 
 he had fet by to regale us with on our return from the 
 defert. This, though not very nicely corked, proved not 
 only not damaged, but even excellent ; and had probably, 
 in confequence of a fhipwreck, or of its having been 
 offered up, either in a merry or a fuperftitious mood, by 
 fome brave tar to Neptvme, been long tofTed about by the 
 waves, before it came to its original deftination, to which 
 we applied it by drinking each others healths, hi one part 
 of the ftrand, we perceived a ftrong fmell of amber, with- 
 out being able, however, to find any of this drug there- 
 abouts. Several fpecimens of the Gorgonia ceratophyta (a 
 black horn-like coral with a red bark) which had been 
 thrown up here by the fea, I have brought home with me ; 
 one of thefe, which was three feet and a half long, aftd 
 is branched out to an almoft equal breadth, is confidered\. 
 by divers connoiiTeurs, who have feen the iirft cabinets in :• . 
 
 Europe,
 
 320 
 
 A V O Y AGE TO THE 
 
 »776- Europe, as being one of the largefl of this fpecies that 
 ^^-rO ever was found. 
 
 On the 9th we again Yi^Vitd Sitjtca?7tma, where we now' 
 found a number of fnakes, which, on account of the farmers 
 having fet fire to the dry grafs, for the purpofe of manuring 
 their lands, fled to the fands, and there at this time lay- 
 dead ; partly fcorched by the fire, partly dried by the 
 fun, and in part rotted to pieces. There were fome 
 traces left of their having had four legs, fo that proba- 
 bly this ferpent was the anguis quadrupes of Linn^us. 
 Numbers of the bulla achatina of Linn^us, though only 
 the variatas livida of it, were found alive on the fandy 
 plains, and up in the trees. When I was here before, I 
 found in the very fliell of one of thefe fnails, feveral yolks 
 of eggs (as it were) of the fliape of common eggs, which, 
 however, only contained a thin watery liquid. 
 
 On the I ith, having taken up our quarters nc:ir PFagen- 
 booms-rivier, the moft eaflerly j)art of hange-kloof^ we dif- 
 covered at night on a fudden, that a trad:, near three miles 
 in length, confiding of fields of dry grafs, was in flames. 
 This conflagration, which a neighbouring farmer had 
 caufed, for the purpofes of deftroying the arid plants, grafs, 
 and bufhes that grew on his lands, (but it muft be owned, 
 had fet about it very mal-a-propos, both as to time and 
 weather,) fpread with the wind that blew very hard, with 
 incredible fpeed, proceeding in a dire6l line to the farm 
 where we were ; fo that our hofi:s wei^e obliged to throw 
 water on the roof of their corn- loft, in order to preferve it 
 from the flames. We were likewife not a little anxious 
 for the fafety of our waggon, and were obliged to keep 
 
 ourfelves
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 321 
 
 ourfelves in readinefs to drive it into the water, as well as '776. 
 
 . March. 
 
 to put oft our journey till the next day, as the fire burnt \^y>J 
 rapidly on each fide of the road. By this way of dre fling 
 the land, a number of ferpents, lizards, fcorpions, and 
 feveral other kinds of infedts, together with young birds, 
 are generally deitroyed in their habitations. When we 
 failed along the African coafl, in the Refolution^f on our re- 
 turn from the South Pole, we faw of nights feveral large 
 fires up the country, which probably were occafioned by 
 the lands being fet fire to in this manner. 
 
 A piece of lapis lazuli in a matrix of quartz^ which 
 I found in the vicinity of the river above-mentioned, is 
 tolerably rich ; but, fuppofing it fliould abound here, even 
 then it would hardly pay for the fmelting, on account of 
 the length of the way and the badnefs of the roads, by 
 which the coal and fuel mufl be brought hither for this 
 purpofe from Sitftkwnma. 
 
 On the 13 th we left this place, and arrived at KrakeeU 
 rivler^ which I now found to be a continuation of JVagejt- 
 hooms-rivier^ but have forgot to rectify the error in my 
 map -''•. In the evening, riding alone to Aapies-rivier on a 
 mettlefome horfe which I had lately purchafed, and which 
 was unacquainted with this part of the country, I unavoid-- 
 ably loft my way when the night was far advanced ; efpecially 
 as the road over certain fields was unbeaten and not to be 
 diftinguiflied. In the mean while, there came on the moft vio- 
 lent ftorm of thunder that I ever experiencedin any climate : 
 the lightning frequently darting and crackling I.etvveen my 
 horfe's feet, while I was naturally enough pulhing him c-n as 
 
 * This error is resSlified iti the prcfent edition, 
 
 Vo L, II. T t • faft
 
 3^2 A VOYAGE to tme 
 
 ^7-6- faft as I could, in order to get out of the rain. Thou^li my 
 
 March. "^ Q f 
 
 v^-rsJ fleed, notwithftanding this, did not lole any of his mettle, 
 
 but, on the contrary, made feveral fudden Harts and leaps, yet 
 
 the poor animal was fo much affe6led at two different times by 
 
 the violence of the thunder, that he funk quite down to the 
 
 ground. As I found that 1 run rifks in divers v/ays, and met 
 
 with feveral obftacles in the courfe I was fleering, I thought it 
 
 moft advifeable to endeavour, by the afliftance of the frequent 
 
 flaflies of lightning, to regain the beaten road which I 
 
 had quitted. In this attempt I at lafh fucceeded, and lighted 
 
 upon a farm that was newly laid out, without any other 
 
 premifes upon it, than a folitary hut thatched with ftraw ; 
 
 in which, though 1 found no better company there than 
 
 a parcel of Hottentots, I was very glad to have at leaft the 
 
 comfort of a roof over my head ; the fire being already 
 
 quite burnt out, fo that I was obliged to fit there freezing 
 
 and dripping w^et till the next morning. In the mean while, 
 
 I was extremely anxious concerning Mr. Immelman, who 
 
 had fet out the fame evening, though later than I did ; 
 
 while he, having by means of a horfe which he led in 
 
 hand, and which was perfedly acquainted with the road^ 
 
 arrived fafe at the place of our deflination ; and like wife 
 
 mifling me, was not lefs uneafy on my account than I was 
 
 on his ; and, after having made, to no purpofe, feveral 
 
 lignals by firing a mufket, among other furmifes which 
 
 prefented itfelf to his imagination, he could not help being 
 
 apprehenfive that I was ftruck dead by lightning; efpecially 
 
 as he had a])peared himfelf to have been in great danger 
 
 from it, by a flafli having darted into the ground clofe by 
 
 the fide of his horfes, in the fame inltant throwing them 
 
 hoth
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. ^ 323 
 
 both on their knees. It rained likewife the followino: '776- 
 
 "=> March. 
 
 night, but without much thunder; and on the 15 th, while \^y^sJ 
 we were on the road to Kukoi-rivier^ it rained all day long. 
 
 On the 1 6th we came again to the farm of Za^id-plaat^ 
 ne^v K/ein-dorn-rrj/er, mentioned in Vol. I. page 299. Here 
 they were at this time very bufy in preferving and drying 
 raifins ; which was done by macerating the grapes a longer or 
 fliorter time, according to what fort they were of, in boil- 
 ing water, and then fpreading them out on mats to dry. 
 The uncommon drought which, this fummer in a greater 
 or lefs degree, infefled the whole country, had, among 
 many other inconveniencies produced here, as well as in 
 many other places, a fcarcity of meal, fo that they had no 
 bread at this farm. The cattle in many places died for 
 want of fodder ; fo that at Fa/fe^ or more properly VaJfche- 
 rivier, where, as I mentioned at page 244 of Vol. I. 
 I faw, the preceding September, feveral buckets of butter- 
 milk thrown away, they complained that they had then 
 hardly enough to wean a child with. In confequence of 
 this horrid drought, which, according to the account I read 
 in the papers, was probably pretty general in other parts of 
 the world, my draught-oxen fell away in their flefli, being 
 quite fpent and worn out with fatigue, fo that feveral of 
 them died one after the other ; which obliged me to fupply 
 their places with frefn ones. 
 
 On the 20th we came toZaffraan- craaL On the 2 1 ft, early 
 in the morning, we entered the tedious and tirefome vale, 
 called Art aquas- kloof \ and about the dufk of the evening, at 
 a precipice by the lide of the road, n^ \ waggon met with a 
 worfe accident than it had done during ihe whole journey, 
 
 T t 2 as
 
 324 A VOYAGE to rut 
 
 1776. as it was turned quite topfy-turvy. , Befides the danger 
 ^^^^J^ which one of our Hottentots and two of the hind oxen 
 were in of breaking their necks, I had the mortification of 
 feeing my colle6lion of natural curiofities trundle down the 
 hill, in confequence of which they received coniiderable 
 damage. I look upon it, however, as peculiarly fortunate, 
 that I was at this time near at hand, by which means I, 
 in fome degree, prefer ved them. 
 
 On the 2 2dwehad, with great care and trouble, got 
 the waggon, together with our wearied oxen, through 
 the remainder of Artaqtias-kloofy having been obliged to 
 unload it in two difficult places, and carry the contents of 
 it ourfelves. Our holt at Hagel-craaly who had him- 
 felf travelled a good deal in this country, was peculiarly 
 happy at our having got off fo well. This night there fell 
 frequent fhowers; but on the a 3d, being arrived at Honing" 
 klipi there fell the w^hole night throughout the moft dreadful 
 heavy rain known in the memory of man ; which continued, 
 though with fomewhat lefs violence, all the next day, being 
 the 24th, by which means, on the 25 th, the road leading 
 from hence was intirely impaffable. 
 
 On the 26th we palTed Falfcbe-rhier* They began now, 
 in this part of the country, to take advantage of the wet 
 that had fallen, for fowing ; but though every grazier in 
 this country has a greater quantity of land, draught-oxen, 
 and bread than he wants, yet the farmers here had hardly 
 every one a plough-fhare to themfelves, and this as well for 
 want of fmiths as of iron ; which, even in the town it- 
 V felf, are difficult to be procured. It hurt me extremely, 
 that thefe good people lliould not be more plentifully fup- 
 
 plied
 
 C APE OF GOOD HOP E. 325 
 
 plied with a metal with which our country abounds almofl '776- 
 
 r ^ c- r March. 
 
 to excels, and of the implements made of which probably \„r\^ 
 all South-America is not lefs in want than the fouthern 
 part of Africa : where I at this time faw a wealthy farmer 
 wringing his hands and complaining, that he could not take 
 advantage of the wet weather, on account of his plough 
 being broken, and was obliged to wait till he could borrow 
 one of his neighbours. I muft juft mention here, that a 
 plough-fliare, 19 inches broad and 27 long, fuch as is 
 commonly ufed in this country, cofts from three to five 
 rix-dollars ; and a fmall round -lliouldered fpade, wdth a 
 peaked point, which might be bought in Sweden for ten- 
 pence, is fold at the Gape for fix times that price. Copper 
 vefTels alfo bear a high price in this country, but the de- 
 mand for them is by no means confiderable ; and they 
 mufl be wrought after the peculiar fafliion of the country. 
 
 March 27th. Not having had occafion to remark, dur- 
 ing the whole journey, the leafb difagreement among the 
 Hottentots, excepting that a young Hottentot girl pretty 
 feverely rallied one of the fame nation, older than herfelf, 
 for wearing too fmall, and confequently indecent a fneite^ 
 or apron, we were the more furprized to fee this day, at 
 Zoete-melk^s-rivier^ a terrible fierce battle between two Hot- 
 tentots. I muft not, however, forget to mention, that the 
 combatants were man and wife, both equally fmall and 
 ftunted in their grov/th, as well as equal in point of ftrength ; 
 both born and bred in the fervice of the Chriftians, and 
 both drefTed in the Hottentot fafliion. 
 
 There was at that time nobody at home but a few flaves, 
 who every now and then parted them ; but on the leaft 
 
 5 ^^^y
 
 325 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 W7^- "wry f'lce or hafty expreflion, thefe loving turtles flew like 
 
 March. . . 1 1 « -1 ^-^ n' c ' 
 
 K.y'Y'^ lightning again at each others throats. On my teitirymg 
 my furprize at the peculiar readinefs and expertnefs they 
 fliewed in boxing each other, one of the flaves anfvvered 
 me very ierioufly, " Ha, baas I there is no great wonder 
 in that, for in the two years that I have been here, fcarce- 
 ly a day has palTed without their having jDradifed together 
 once, if not oftener, before any body could get to them to 
 part them." The fingularity of this account was increafed 
 by the following remark, " that they had never been ob- 
 ferved to be at variance of nights, nor had they ever had 
 occaiion to upbraid each other with the leaft infidelity*" 
 Matters being thus fituated, as the befl way of reconciling 
 them, we defired the flaves to let them alone, and leave them 
 at full liberty, in the phrafe of the Englifli failors, to Jight it 
 out^ and give each otlier their bellies full. This was ac- 
 cordingly done, and I have reafon to believe, that they not 
 .only had enough of the fport, but that they were heartily 
 tired into the bargain, and ccnfequently that the enfuing 
 peace lafted fo much the longer. — ^On the 28th, 29th, and 
 30th, it rained more or lefs, but always with the wind at 
 -wefl. At Kro'/nmbeek-rivier a yeoman, who was a great 
 obferver^of the weather, had remarked, that the moll: vio- 
 lent winds were the north-weft and fouth-eaft ; but that 
 ;the former was generally the moft violent, and that the 
 weft wind was the warmeft ; but what was very extraor- 
 dinary was, that the north wind was the coldeft. He in- 
 formed me likewife, that the fouth-eaft wind was not near 
 fo cold as it was at the Cape, and that the weft wind ufcd 
 xo fet in every evening. Foul weather moftly came into 
 
 this
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 327 
 
 this country with an eafterly or wefberly wind. Though 1776. 
 violent rains fell at that time at the Gape, or on the other v^>^^ 
 fide of Hex-rivier^ it fcldom extended as far as this ^lace, 
 the wind becoming only colder. Like wife when it rains 
 here, the rain feldom extends to the other fide of the laft- 
 mentioned river. 
 
 On the 31ft I rode alone to a farm on the other fide of 
 the upper part of Duyvcn-hoeks-rivlery having reafon to be- 
 lieve, from report, that there was gold ore at this place. 
 
 On the I ft of April I examined this pretended gold ore^ 
 and found it was nothing more than a pyrites^ which they 
 had given themfelves the trouble of breaking off from the 
 mountains. In certain fpots here I met with a blue clay, 
 impregnated with iron, which at firft, in fome degree, im- 
 parted a colour to any thing it was rubbed upon ; but \n 
 the fpace of a few days grew hard, and acquired a fchirrou3 
 nature. 1 iikewife found there a red ferruginous earth, or 
 bole, but higher up in the mountain there was a great 
 quantity of flint fand. Towards the end of the preced-- 
 ing month a noife had beea heard at a.dilfance, and we were^ 
 afterwards informed, that certain changes had taken place in 
 a mountain, and in a little flream lituated a great many miles 
 on the other fide of the high chain of mountains upon 
 which I then was. 
 
 On the 5th wx arrived at Zzvellendamy from whence, for 
 the Hike of variety, we determined to purfue the remain-i' 
 der of our journey by Hex-riviery Cockelmans-kloof^ Roodc-* 
 zandy Sec. This tradt of country was partly of the carrow 
 kind, and was fo well inhabited, (chiefly by wwe'boors).\\Y3X 
 I could not find room for diftinguilhing all the farms with - 
 
 tlxa
 
 32 8 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. the ufual circular mark in my map. The rivers, or rathe 
 \^^^^ brooks, that lay between Zwellendam and Hex-rivier^ were 
 PufpaS'Valky^t Klip-rivier-, Meule7naars-rivier-i Leeuwen-ri^ 
 viery Saaras-rivier^ Fink-riviery G or ee- riviere Seuj-rivier^ 
 and Nana-rivier, 
 
 The aloe plant, (vide Linn. SuppL Plant,) commonly 
 called at the Cape Gore-bofcby has its name from the river" 
 Go7''e ]\\^ mentioned : though befides that Ipot, this well- 
 known vegetable, of which there are many varieties, being 
 of a fucculent nature, throve extremely well in all the dry 
 carrow 2.i-\d balf carrow i)lains ; yet it grew in the greateft 
 abundance in the tra6t of country lying round about Mufcle- 
 bayy Gaurits and Dtiyvenhoeks-riviers \ fo that in certain 
 fpots thereabouts, and that chiefly on the dechvity of 
 mountains, thefe plants formed groves, (as it were) of fmall 
 palm-trees : as the ftems which arofe from, and were com- 
 pofed of the thick fucculent leaves, in confequence of almoft 
 the whole of each leaf, after being dried up and withered 
 towards the bottom, having fallen off, or at leafl having 
 been ftripped off purpofely, (by which means they had 
 moreover acquired a rough, brown, and parched appearance) 
 were, however, for the moft part, ftrait and eredl, from 
 eight to thirty feet in height, and about one thick, and were 
 terminated by pale green tufts of frefli and healthy leaves. 
 Not only the ufe, but even the real name of this plant, 
 {yvLMloe) was, as I have been told by many people, long un- 
 known to the colonifts,andfor this reafon had been neglcvfted 
 and held cheap by them. It is true, there had been al- 
 ways in the fervice of the government a number of Negro 
 flaves, who, at the place of their nativity, (another part 
 
 of
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 329 
 
 of the African coaft) had learned the method of preparing, »776- 
 as well as the value of the gum aloe ; but bowing as they O-vO 
 did, beneath the yoke of flavery, they would rather at any 
 time have feen a dart pierce the hearts of their tyrants, than 
 be inftrumental in procuring them any additional knowledge 
 or wealth of what kind foever ; by which, on the one fide, 
 the pride, avarice, and power of their mailers, and on the 
 other lide, their work, as well as the number of Haves 
 employed would be increafed. For this reafon, the 
 ufe of the aloe was for a long time kept a fecret among 
 the flaves ; who, indeed, made a point of confcience of 
 not revealing it, till one of them, called Goree, difcover- 
 ed it to a colonifl of the de Witt family. Whether this 
 proceeded from gratitude to his mafter for his humane 
 treatment of him, or whether it was done in hopes of be- 
 ing rewarded for it, they could not inform me with any 
 certainty : they only knew, that de Witt had, through 
 this difcovery, obtained an exclulive privilege for the deli- 
 very of a certain quantity of aloes to the Eaft-India com- 
 pany, and had given up to Goree the infpeclion of the 
 whole work. It is likewife after the name of this Have, 
 that the aloe plant is ftill to this day in Africa mofl: com- 
 monly, if not folcly, called the Goree-bofch, 
 
 The method in which gum aloes is prepared in Africa, 
 has, it is true, been defcribed before by profeiTor Thux- 
 BERG, (vide Tranfa^ftions of the Swedidi Phyfiographical 
 Society, Parti. Art. II. page 112.) But as my readers 
 may, neverthclefs, probably expedl fome information oa- 
 this ful>jett5 I have thought pro])er to communicate the fol- 
 lowing particulars concerning this fubjccfl. 
 
 Vol. II. U u The
 
 S30 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776- The leaves being cut off at fome diftance from the ftem, 
 
 \.Jy>J- as many of them as there is room for are placed in a flant- 
 ing pofition over the concavity of another aloe leaf laid un- 
 der them for this purpofe, fo that the juice, trickling down 
 from the leaves which are cut, may be collected in it. 
 After this, the whole quantity of juice contained in thefe 
 refervoirs, is boiled down to about a third part, and being 
 poured out into boxes, is left to coagulate and grow hard. 
 
 Others again content themfeives with wiping off the 
 juice, which comes out of the frefli cut leaves, feveral 
 times againft the edges of a marble velTel, wherein it is by 
 this means colle6led, and is afterwards boiled down. 
 
 In the methods defcribed above, which, however, in all 
 probability, are by no means the beft that might be imagin- 
 ed, only a few drops, or at mofl a thimbleful or two, are 
 procured from each leaf. By handling it, the hands of the 
 operator are fubje6l to be made fore ; and the boiling of 
 it down, an operation which is likewife performed in the 
 open air, the operator being at the fame time frequently 
 expofed to the fcorching rays of the fun, is alfo attended 
 with its inconveniencies. Add to this, that thofe who at 
 prefent make it their buiinefs to buy up this drug at the 
 Cape, do not give above two or three ftivers a pound for 
 it ; and it will not appear Ifrange, that the Cape farmers 
 do not think it worth their while to prepare this gum, 
 unlefs they have young children or other people, that can 
 do nothing elle, to employ upon it. " In the winter {quaade 
 fnoujfori) the aloe leaves are fuppofed to contain molt juice ; 
 on which account, this feafon is principally chofen for pre- 
 paring the gum aloe, and particularly fine and calm days ; 
 4 as
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 331 
 
 as in windy weather the juice coagulates too foon, and ^77f 
 cannot run out of the leaves." Vide 1. c. The gum pre- V^vO 
 pared in this manner is, when powdered, yellow, like any 
 other aloes in powder ; but the thin pieces that are broken 
 oiF from it, and the edges of even larger pieces, are tranf- 
 parent, appearing as tliough they wxre made of a yellow- 
 ifli brown glafs. Confequently it has nothing of that dark 
 green cloudy and opaque appearance, like the other aloes 
 \^hich are to be found in the apothecaries fliops under the 
 denominations of fuccotrine and hepatic aloes. This dark 
 colour, v/hich isfeen in a great quantity of aloes, in all 
 probability proceeds from its having been prepared in a 
 method very different from that ufed at the Gape; perhaps 
 from the leaves being prefTed, by w^hich means a greater 
 quantity indeed of juice is obtained, but then it is full 
 of dregs. 
 
 It is true, I have often ufed the gum aloe of the Cape 
 for medical purpofes, but cannot take upon me as yet to 
 give it the preference to the more opaque fort ; in the mean 
 while, delirous of exploring this drug in divers ways, I 
 got M. John E. Julin, apothecary at New Carleby^ to fe- 
 parate from each other the gummy and re fi nous parts of 
 the gum aloe from the Cape, who found it to contain near- 
 ly equal quantities of both thefe principles. 
 
 Near the above-mentioned river Goree^ farmer Aloven 
 Smidt, who refided on the banks of that river, had caught 
 a dreadfully venomous lizard, called fgeitje^ which he had 
 kept in fpirits of wine; and on the 19th of this month, on 
 my departure from this place, made me a prefent of it, 
 
 U u 2 1 had
 
 33^ A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^j^y^^^ I had long before this been told by many people, that the 
 v.^^rO bite of this creature would produce a terrible fort of leprofy, 
 which terminated in death, but not till the expiration of 
 lix months or a year, the body in the mean while rotting 
 and falling away piece- meal. This man, however, gave 
 me an inftance of a Bugunefe flave having, a few years 
 before, been fortunate enough to cure a female flave in 
 the neighbourhood, who had already experienced, in a 
 pretty high degree, the effeds of the geitje's bite. The 
 patient, who had afterward removed to about fixty miles 
 from this place, was fuppofed to be flill alive and in good 
 health ; but the flave, they knew, had died with the 
 fecret, having never difcovered either this or any other 
 of the remedies of which he was in polTelTion of, ta 
 any body. It has been obferved, however, that among 
 other means which he ufed, he had fometimes drefled 
 the wound with oranges and lemons cut into halves. In 
 the mean while, the matter deferves to be inveftigated in 
 different ways. Among other things, animals ought to be 
 expofed to the bite of this ferpent, and the effedls of 
 oranges and other remedies on the ulcers that would in all 
 probability arife from it, Ihould be tried. It is a fortu- 
 nate circumftance, that the geitje is flow in its motions, 
 and not of a very irritable difpofition ; confequently the 
 diforder occafioned by its bite is not common, though the 
 animal itfelf is common enough in fpring, or at leaft at 
 certain times in the year. We fought for it, however, to 
 no purpofe, under the rocks and ftones near Krakeel river, 
 and in the empty fliells of the bulla achatima in Sitficam- 
 tna^ (where the inhabitants affured me it was very com- 
 mon)
 
 C A P E OF G O O D H O P E. 333 
 
 mon) when I palTed through thefe places. As the tail is *776. 
 apt ta fall off with a flight touch, and is found filled up v^^-rO 
 with a yellow matter, like that which is feen in boils and 
 ulcers, and as no nails are difcoverablc in the fpecimea 
 that I brought home with me, is it not probable that the 
 geitje is a larva, which in time is transformed into a lizard 
 of a quite different form and nature ? I do not know for 
 certain, whether I have feen this lizard alive or not ; yet 
 I think I remember, that I caught one of them at the 
 warm bath, and, v\Tapping it up in paper, kept it in my 
 pocket ; but pulled it out again, through haile and care- 
 leffnefs, along with the wadding of my gun ; not being 
 aware at that time, what a venomous prize I had got and 
 parted with. I afterwards heard the com])any at the bath 
 fpeak of this lizard, though (if I remember right) by ano- 
 ther name, being to be found at Franfe-hoek ; but I con- 
 fidered the account they gave concerning the poifonous 
 quality of this animal, as one of the tales by which I ob- 
 ferved they endeavoured to alarm me, and render me cau- 
 tious in the courfe of my journey. The geitje which I 
 brought home with me, is fcarcely three inches in length, 
 of which length the tail makes the fmalleft half, and is very 
 peaked ; but in the middle is nearly as thick as the animal's 
 body, w^hich is without any fcales, and at top fneckled 
 with dark fpots, and white underneath, with, from twelve 
 to fourteen papillae on the edge of the under jaw. There 
 are five toes to each foot. I have given a figure of the 
 geitje, together with a full defcription of it, in the Tranf- 
 anions of the Gottenburgh Society of Sciences and Belles 
 Lettres, Parti, page 75. Tab. V.
 
 334 
 1776. 
 
 A-ril 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. I have already, at page 308 of this volume, made men- 
 
 ' ^" ' tion of a lizard as black as jet, which the Hottentots dread 
 very much, as being highly venomous. 
 
 Not having room for them within the limits which I 
 have prefcribed to myfelf in this volume, I am obliged to 
 poftpone the defcription of the African lizards, as well as 
 feveral other matters, for the prefent, with an intention to 
 give them to the public at fome future period, in a feparate 
 treatifc, or by fome other opportunity. The following 
 lizard, however, which is much the largeft in the v/hole 
 colony, and to which I fliall give the name oi lacertq, 
 Capenjis^ deferves to be briefly mentioned, were it only on 
 account of the hardinefs of its nature, and the difRculty 
 with which I found it to be deprived of life. It is true, 
 it bears fome diftant refemblance to that of Seba, from 
 Ceylon, Tom. I. Tab. 94. Fig. I. in the rings or girdles 
 with which it is encircled ; but it has a much greater num- 
 ber of them, not to fpeak of the remarkable dillimilarity 
 there is between them in point of colour, which may be 
 coUeded from the following charadler of that from the 
 Cape. 
 
 " Lacerta Capenfls, cauda comprefTa fupra carinata, 
 Zonis 16, feu 18, albis totidemque nigris alternantibus 
 annulata, apice nigra. Corpore fubfquamofo, fuperne ex 
 nigro viridique fufco, fubtus albido, fafciis 16 — 18, nigris 
 anomalis notato. Harum 8 circiter juguli, 9 autem 
 Pe6loris Abdominifque regiones occupant." 
 
 One of this fpecies, of the middle flze, which, together 
 with its two young ones, I brought home with me from 
 Agter Bruntjes-hoogte^ was about two feet long in the body, 
 
 and
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 and three in the tail ; having caught her by the neck, fo 
 that llie could not bite me, and finding that it required 
 fome ftrength to hold her faft, I got a large worfted needle, 
 and gave her feveral pun6lures with it, not only in the 
 heart, but in every part of the cranium which was in con- 
 ta6l with the brain. This, however, was fo far from 
 anfwering my purpofe, w hich was to kill her in the moft 
 fpeedy and leaft painful manner, without mangling or 
 mutilating her, that llie feemed Hill to have life enough 
 left to be able to run away. After this my hoft undertook 
 to put an end to her, and after having given her feveral 
 hard fqueezes about the cheft, and tied her feet together, 
 hung her up by the neck in a noofe, which he drew as 
 clofe as he poflibly could. From this Htuation llie was 
 found in the fpace of 48 hours to have extricated herfclf, 
 though file Hill remained near the farm, appearing at the 
 fame time to be almoil: entirely exhaufled. Upon this, we 
 tied her feet clofe behind her, fo that with her long and 
 fliarp claws, of which flie had five upon each foot, flie could 
 not damage the ferpents and other animals which I kept in 
 a cafk of brandy, and among which I put her with my own 
 hands, holding her a long time under the furface of the 
 liquor; yet fhe w^as fo far from being fuffocated imme- 
 diately by the ftrength of the liquor, that flie flounced 
 about a good deal in it ; and even a quarter of an hour 
 afterwards, convinced us by her motions that flie had ftill 
 fome life remaining in her. This fpecies of lizard I found 
 to be amphibious, living in water as well as on land, and 
 likewife that it grew to a ftill greater fize ; confequently it 
 appears to be an extremely long-lived animal, and, as well 
 
 OEL 
 
 335
 
 336 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 ^n^.' on account of this property, as of that of not being killed 
 ^.^^yO without great difficulty, to have an important office affigned 
 it in the general fyftem of the oeconomy of nature. It 
 was fuppofed, (and not without foundation) by the people 
 with whom I refided, that this creature might eafily be 
 made tame, and that it was not in the leafl of a malignant 
 or venomous nature. 
 
 I have this moment received the foetus of a very fingular 
 quadruped from the Cape, which has been kept in fpirits, 
 I can therefore do no more than give a fhort defcription of 
 it in this place, which may ferve as a foundation for farther 
 refearches in future. 
 
 It feems to be of a dark grey colour, and feven inches 
 and a half long, meafuring from the nofe to the anus ; in 
 its body, tail, and feet, fomewhat refembling a young whelp, 
 but with a quite different head. 
 
 The nofe is round and fmall, two-thirds of an inch in 
 length, and projedling ftrait forwards, fo as to form a right 
 angle with the forehead, wiiich is upright, and rounded 
 almoll like that of a man ; and thus in thefe particulars, 
 likev/ife very different from the long-fnouted genus of 
 viverra, or weafel. The mouth, moreover, proje6ls in 
 fuch a manner, that the upper lip forms an acute angle 
 with the nofe. Notwithftanding this, the under-lip and 
 jaw project beyond the upper. The tongue is broad, and 
 is round at the tip. 
 
 Captain Adolphus Burtz, who has enriched the cabinet 
 of Natural Hiflory belonging to the Royal Academy of 
 Sciences with divers rarities from the Eaft-Indies, has made 
 me a prefent likewife of this animal, which he had bought 
 
 of
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. %%j 
 
 •of a countryman at the Cape. This man told him, that it ^^7.6. 
 was to be found in the country round about Saldaiiba-bay-, L^vvrf' 
 and gave him the name of it, which Captain Bxjrtz took 
 down in writing, but loft the paper; fo that this animal 
 feems to be one of the regular and ordinary produ6tions of 
 nature, and no monfter* 
 
 In the evening we came to Nana-rhier, At -this time 
 there lived here a widow, whofe hufband had feveral years 
 before met with the dreadful cataftrophe of being beheaded 
 by his own flaves. His fon, then about 13 or 14 years 
 of age, was obliged to be eye-witnefs to his fathers fate^ 
 and was even threatened with being made to partake of it, 
 but luckily found an opportunity of giving them the flip ; 
 and after eluding their mofl vigilant fearch, hid himfelf up 
 clofe from the forenoon till it was dark at night ; M'hen at lait 
 he ventured forth, with a view to feek a fafer afylum at a 
 neighbouring farm, and to accufe his father's murderers. 
 Thefe villains had refolved likewife to murder the mother^ 
 who was expeded that day home from the Cape ; but fortu- 
 nately for her, though very much to her diffatisfacftion, 
 Ihe was delayed by fome accident on the road till the next 
 day. By means of her fon, who had made his eicape, flic 
 received advice of \vhat had happened. As the wdiole 
 premifes on the farm confided merely of two houfes, 
 fituated on a plain quite open on all fides, excepting that 
 it was covered with a few flraggling buflies, which grew 
 along the little river or brook that ran clofe by the fpot> 
 the lad's contrivance to hide himfelf, though in fa6t ex- 
 tremely painful as well as fingular, was the only one that 
 could at this time pofTibly fave him. It confiflcd in this 
 
 Vol. II, X X viz.
 
 38 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 '776. viz. that he fat, or rather fank himfelf up to his nofe in 
 \,„J^^ the river ; taking care at the fame time to hide his face 
 behind the bovighs that hung over the v^ater. The mur- 
 derers not being able to find him any where, he having 
 as it were entirely vanifhed out of their fight, immediately 
 began to conclude, that, in order to avoid the flroke of the 
 bloody axe, he had rather chofe to put an end to his life 
 himfelf, by jumping into the river : notwithllianding this, 
 however, they attempted to make themfelves certain 
 whether he was drowned or not. The means they took 
 in order to efFe6l this, was to found the brook all over 
 with the branches of a tree ; but they luckily forgot juft 
 the particular place where the boy was fitting, probably as 
 the river was in that part jThallower, and had a brifker 
 current. 
 
 I fliould doubtlefs have brought the tears into the eyes 
 of our hofts, and at the fame time made them a bad return 
 for their civilities, had I, by queftioning them clofely con- 
 cerning the particulars of this Itory, endeavoured fo un^ 
 feafonably to fatisfy my ctuiofity. For this reafon, I have 
 contented myfelf with taking it down, juft as 1 have related 
 it above, from the accounts given me by Mr. Immelman 
 and others ;. and confequently was not able to learn with 
 any certainty, whether the deceafed had by any unufual acfl 
 of feverity provoked his flaves to commit this crime, by way 
 of revenging themfelves; or elfe whether thefe latter hadadled 
 thus, from a perfuafion that the fame crimes and predatory 
 pradices by which violence had been crfifered to their perfons, 
 and they had been deprived of their liberties, might likewife 
 law fully be had recourfe to, for the recovery of this precious 
 
 right
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 539 
 
 right beftowed on them by nature, and might confeqiiently ^77^^- 
 be very pardonable when exercifed on their tyrants. V-^vO 
 
 Yet, whatever might be the real reafon of the com- 
 mitting this dreadful crime, I am convinced, that it has its 
 origin in the very efTence and nature of the commerce in 
 ilaves, in whatever manner and in whatever country it may 
 be pra6lifed ; a motive which I found had as much influence 
 among the Ghriflians in many places, as among the Turks 
 on the coafl of Barbary, to induce the unhappy flaves, and 
 Hill more their tyrannical maflers, to behave very ftrangely ; 
 nay, fometimes to be guilty of the moft horrid cruelties. I 
 have known fome colonifts, not only in the heat of their 
 paffion, but even deliberately and in cool blood, un- 
 dertake themfelves the low office (fit only for the execu- 
 tioner) of not only flaying, for a trifling negle61, both the 
 backs and limbs of their flaves by a peculiar flow 
 lingering method, but likewife, exceeding the very tigers 
 in point of cruelty, throw pepper and fait over the 
 wounds. But what appeared to me more ftrange and hor- 
 rible, was to hear a colonift, not only defcribe w'ith great 
 feeming latisfa6lion the whole procefs of this diabolical 
 invention, but even pride himfelf on the practice of it ; and 
 rack his brains, in order to find fophifms in defence of it, 
 as well as of the flave trade ; in which occupation the im- 
 portant poft he enjoyed in the colony, and his own interefl, 
 had engaged him. He was., however, an European by 
 birth ; of a free and civilized nation ; and, indeed, gave 
 evident proofs of pofTefling a kind and tender heart ; fo 
 that, perhaps, it would be difficult to fliew any where a 
 
 X X 2 greater
 
 240 A VOYAGE to the 
 
 I776- crreater contradidlion in the difpofition of man, though in 
 
 April ^ 
 
 \s^>^rsJ a world compofed almoft entirely of contradi6tions. 
 
 Many a time, efpecially in the mornings and evenings,., 
 have I feen in various places unhappy flaves, who with the 
 moft difmal cries and lamentations, were fufferiiig the im- 
 moderately fevere punifliments inflided on them by their- 
 mafters ; during which, they are ufed, as I was informed, 
 to beg not fo much for mercy, as for a draught of water ;, 
 but as long as their blood was- ftill inflamed with the pain 
 and torture, it was faid that great care mull: be taken to 
 avoid allowing them the refrefhment of any kind of drink ; 
 as experience had fliewn,. that in that cafe,, they would die 
 in the fpace of a few hours, and fometimes the very inftant 
 after they had drank it. The fame thing is faid to happens 
 to thofe who are impaled alive, after having been broken, 
 upon the wheel, or even without having previoully fufFer- 
 ed this punifhment. The fpike in this cafe is> thruft up 
 alone the back-bone and the vertebrae of the neck, between 
 the ik^in and the cuticle, in fuch a manner, that the delin- 
 quent is brought into a fitting, poflure. In this horrid 
 fituation, however, they are faid to be capable of fupport- 
 ing life for feveral days, as long as there comes no rain ; as in 
 that cafe, the humidity will occafion their fores to mortify,, 
 and confequently put an end to their fufferings in a few hours* 
 I am glad that, during my refidence in the town, no 
 opportunity prefented itfelf to me of feeing any one undergo 
 this punifhment ; which, though it is only deflined for in- 
 cendiaries, or for fuch as are guilty of fedition or murder, 
 aggravated with peculiar circumftances of cruelty and bar- 
 barity, yet it appears not lefs fliocking and revolting to 
 
 human
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, g^-R 
 
 human nature, than the very crimes themfelves, and 
 actually irritates more than it is generally thought to do, 
 the other flaves in the town ; whom I have ften compelled 
 to be prefent even at fuch public punifliments as do not 
 afFedl the life of the culprit, in order that they might take 
 warning from it. But the Have who is puniflied for fedi- 
 tion, is always, in the eyes of his fellow-flaves a martyr, 
 that fulFers for the common caufe, and for having main- 
 tained the dearell rights beftowed upon them by nature, 
 which is their liberty. Spikes, wheels, red-hot pincers, 
 and all the reft of the horrid apparatus employed by their 
 executioners, will never have w^ith the fuffcrers the efFe6l of 
 convincing them of the contrary doctrine ; on the contrary, 
 they become ftill more obftinate in fuppoiing themfelves ty- 
 rannized over, and in thinking that fuch of their fellow-Haves 
 as have had the courage to take away the lives of their own 
 tyrants, and prefer death and tortures to the bafely groveling 
 and crawling any longer upon the earth in an opprobrious 
 ilate of bondage, are examples worthy of imitation, and 
 that at leaft they deferve to be venerated, pitied, and even 
 revenged. The Ghinefe maffacre at Batavia in 1748, 
 affords a ftill more dreadful inftance of the rage and cruel- 
 ties into which men in general may be precipitated by the 
 tyranny of their rulers. Had the Ghinefe fucceeded in this 
 infurredlion, the governor-general Imhoff, and M.. The- 
 DENS, would have been cut to pieces and devoured. (Vide 
 Adr. Valkenier, T. XYII.) May not we conclude from, 
 hence, that oppreflion and injuftice, rather than hunger, have 
 given rife to tlie pracftice of eating human flefli, which pre- 
 vails in many parts of the world ? — I have before obferved,, 
 d that
 
 ,4^ 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 that the Bugunefe Haves are particularly flri6l and fcru- 
 pulous with refpedl to the adminiftratioii of juftice. 
 Thofe Haves are a fort of Mahomedans, and nearly of the 
 fame complexion as the people of Java, though they are 
 taken upon other iflands in the Eaft-hidies. They are not 
 moreover of a humour to put up with harfli expreflions or 
 abuflve language, flill Icfs when they are not deferving of it, 
 and not at all from a woman ; looking upon it as the greatett 
 fliame, to fuffer themfeives to be difciplined by the weaker 
 fex. Many a mailer and miflrefs of a family, who have 
 happened to forget themfeives with refpedt to this point, 
 have, when a proper opportunity has offered, been made 
 to pay for this miftake of theirs with their lives. Thefe 
 fame Haves, on the other hand, when they know that they 
 are in the wrong, are faid to thank their mafter for each 
 ftroke he beftows upon them ; at the fame time commend- 
 ing his rigour and juftice, nay even kiflinghis feet ; a cir- 
 cumftance of which I myfelf have been an eye-witnefs. 
 In fine, they are reported to be capable of bearing the moft 
 cruel torments with wonderful fortitude, as though they 
 were entirely devoid of feeling. There have been inftances 
 of their not having uttered the leaft cry or complaint when 
 impaled alive, or broken upon the wheel. But fhould a 
 Bugunefe Have at any time happen to betray the leaft 
 want of refolution in this point, his countrymen are faid 
 to feel themfeives hurt by it, confidering it as a reproach 
 to the whole nation. The female flaves belonging to thefe 
 people, are reported to be extremely conftant in love, as 
 likewife to exadt the ftridleft fidelity from their lovers. In 
 fliort, the bold and intrepid character of this nation, is the 
 
 caufe
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 3^3 
 
 caiife that people at the Cape are not fond of buying them ; 1776. 
 and that the importation of them is prohibited, though in o^^s> 
 fadl it is fometimes pra6lifed. The flaves from other 
 parts, fuch as from Mofa7nhique<i Madagafcar, Malabar., 8cc. 
 are in general not fo dangerous to their unreafonable aixi 
 tyrannical mailers. On account of this great tamenefs 
 fliewn by them, they are more generally made to bow 
 beneath the yoke ; , and the miftrefs of a family may ven- 
 ture to give as free a fcope to all her whims and fancies 
 as her hufband himfelf, with refpedl to thefe flaves. There 
 is a law, indeed, exifling in the colonies, which prohibits 
 mafters from killing their flaves, or from flogging or 
 otherwife chaftizing them with too great feverity ; but 
 how is a flave to go to law with his mafter, who is, as it 
 were, his fovereign, and who, by the fame laws, has a 
 right (or at leaf!: may by dint of bribes purchafe that 
 right) to have him flogged at the public whipping-poif, 
 not abfolutely to death, indeed, yet not far from it ; and. 
 this merely on the ftrength of the mafler's own teflimony,. 
 and without any farther inquifition into the merits of the 
 cafe ? The maiter has, befides, fo far his flave's life in 
 his hands, that by rating and abufing him day after day,, 
 as likewife by proper family difcipline,. as it is called,, fuch 
 as heavy iron chains, hard work, and little meat,, he may,, 
 without controul, by little and little, though foon enough 
 for his purpofc, worry the poor fellow out of his life. h\ 
 confequence of this, the unhappy flaves, who are fre- 
 quently endued with finer feelings and nobler fentiments. 
 of humanity, though for the moft part a(ftuated' by ft ronger 
 paflions than their mafters, ofteagive tliemfelveis up totally 
 
 ti>
 
 344 
 
 A VOYAGE TO THE 
 
 1776. to dcfpondency-, and commit various a6ls of defperatiou 
 ^ rdid violence. Divers circumftances and confiderations 
 
 Lrvw/ 
 
 iTia)S perhaps, concur to induce a wretch in this lituation 
 to exempt his tyrant from the dagger, which he pkmges 
 in his own bofom ; content with being thus able to 
 put an end to his mifery, and at the fame time to 
 difappoint his greedy mafher of the pi'ofits arifiiig from the 
 fweat of his brow. A female flave, who had been juft 
 bought at a high price, and rather prematurely treated with 
 fcverity by her millrefs, who lived in the Roode-zand 
 diflridl, hanged herfelf the fame night out of revenge and 
 defpair, jufl at the entrance of her new miflrefs's bed- 
 chamber. A young man and woman, who were flaves 
 at the Cape, and were paffionately fond of each other, 
 folicited their mafter, in conformity to the eftabliflied 
 cuftom, for his confent to their being united in wedlock, 
 though all in vain, as from fome whim or caprice he was 
 induced abfolutely to forbid it. The confequence was, that 
 the lover was feized with a fingular fit af defpair ; and 
 having firft plunged a dagger into the heart of the obje^l 
 of his dearefh willies, impnediately afterwards put an end 
 to his own life. But how many hundred inffcances, not lefs 
 dreadful than thefe, might be produced to this purpofe ! 
 Thefe, however, may fufiice to create all that abhorrence 
 for the flave trade, which fo unnatural a fpecies of com- 
 merce deferves ; we will, therefore, at prefent difmifs this 
 difagreeable fubje6t. 
 
 On the J oth we fet off from Hex-rhier^ and went by 
 the way of Roode-zand^ a tra6l of land of the carrow kind, 
 laid out in vineyards, and almoft encircled with very liigh 
 
 mountains.
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 345 
 
 mountains. The only road by which it was poflible to go J77^6^- 
 from hence to the Cape, went through a narrow, long, L/vO 
 and tedious vale, along which runs part of Klein-berg 
 river. 
 
 On the 1 2th, having got out of the diftridl of Roode^ 
 zand^ wc met with fome farmers from Sneeuw-berg^ who 
 had juft been at the Cape. Thefe good people informed 
 us, that a large lake had lately been difcovered a little to 
 the north of the latter diftrid. Other wife, there is not 
 another lake to be found in the whole colony. — As far as 
 I could underftand them, it was of a fpecies of caBus of a 
 confiderable iize, that they made at Camdebo and other 
 places in the colony, a kind of brandy, equally good with 
 that which is prepared from grapes or malt. They like- 
 wife informed us, that there was a Swedifli fliip in each 
 of the harbours, 'Table-bay and Falfe-bay^ both which w^ere 
 fuppofed to be ready to fail. This piece of intelligence, 
 neceflarily caufed me to make all the hafle I could to get 
 to the end of my journey. 
 
 On the 15th we got back again to the Cape* 
 
 Vol. II. Y y A P P E N-
 
 [347 ] 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Some Account of the Mus Pumilio, a new Species of Rat, 
 from the Southern Part of Africa, lately dif covered and 
 defer ibed by the Author* 
 
 THIS animal, which has been hitherto totally un- 
 known to naturalifts, I found in the foreil of Sit- 
 licamma, hard by Slangen-viYiQX^ two hundred uurs to the 
 eafl: of the Gape. It is eafily diftinguillied from all the 
 other numerous fpecies of the genus to which it belongs, 
 by means of the four black lines which run along its back. 
 The figure annexed in Plate VII. of this volume, reprefents 
 this rat of its natural iize, being drawn from a fpecimen 
 which I have prefented to the Mufeum of the Swedifli 
 Academy : and, as it feems to have attained to its full 
 fize, the mus pumilio^ or dwarf moufe^ may certainly con- 
 tend for the palm with the mus minutus and mus betulinus 
 of M. Pallas, as being the mofl diminutive quadruped in 
 the whole world. The fpecimen I have in my pofTefQon 
 at this time, though impregnated with the fpirits in which 
 it is preferved, weighs no more than four fcruples : con- 
 fequently, when compared v/ith the gigantic quadrupeds 
 Cxifting in the fame quarter of the globe, and of which I 
 have given defcriptions as well in the Swedifli Tranfadlions 
 
 Y 7 2 as
 
 48 APPENDIX. 
 
 as in the preceding journal, it forms with them a flriking 
 contraft. Compared with the hipix)potamus, for inftance, 
 an animal, which is feventeen or eighteen French feet long, 
 and at leaft fix in diameter, the mus pumilio is but ^T-^-^cth 
 of the fize of the former, confidering the bulk of this lat- 
 ter as being equal to a cubical mafs an inch and a quarter 
 in length, and half an inch in diameter. 
 
 D E S C R I P T I O. 
 
 Corpus tenue, compreffiufculum. Color Teller is in ge- 
 nere fufco-cinereus ; Frontis 8c nuchcB niger. Linese qua- 
 tuor dorfales, longitudinales nigras : Harum duo inter- 
 media^ tk in nucha Sc ad baiin caudae in unum coaiefcunt; 
 duo exteriores a nucha, paulloque pone aures ortae, fibi in-^ 
 vicem parallelise, ad bafin ufque caudae fere extend untur. 
 Regiones utriufque oculi 8c narium pallidas. Pedes a?itici 8c 
 pojlici quinque-dadlyli, anticorum pollicibus minutis, con- 
 fpicue tamen unguiculatis. Cauda longitudine ^ corporis^ 
 nudiufcula, pallida.. 
 
 S P E-
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 349 
 
 SPECIMEN OF THE LANGUAGE of the 
 HOTTENTOTS. 
 
 Numerals* 
 
 One, Ui. 
 Two, t'Kammu 
 Three, fK?iona, 
 
 Four, fHachi, 
 Five, fGifi^ 
 Six, f Go lav 
 
 Farts of the Body and Clothing, 
 
 Hair, fKiim, 
 
 Nofe, fKok 
 
 Eye, Mo, 
 
 Ear, fN lingua. 
 
 Tooth, fO. 
 
 Teeth, fKong,. 
 
 Lip, t'Gamma, 
 
 Hand, fUnka, 
 
 Leg, t'Nu. 
 
 Stocking, fNiis Tanka,. 
 
 Nails, fKoloqua^ 
 Finger, t'Naniqua, 
 Stomach, f Amfa^ 
 Tail, Softe, 
 Penis, fKa, 
 Caput penis, fOra\, 
 Vulva, fGau. 
 Apron, fNetie, 
 Hat, fAba, 
 Shoes, fNoaka, 
 
 Mens Ages and Conditions in Life, 
 
 Father, Bo, 
 , fO, 
 
 Elder brother, fAi. 
 Younger brother, fKana, 
 Mother, Mama, 
 
 -, Sauji. 
 Parents, Sanna, 
 Elder fiiler, t'Kaes, 
 
 Younger filler, fKangs. 
 Young girl, Traki)f 
 Girl, fGos, 
 Lad, t'Go, 
 Slave, Kobbo, 
 
 Mafter, Mafter of the houfe^ 
 fKiikoi,. 
 
 Th9-
 
 350 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 *The Names of Animals ajid their F roper ties. 
 
 Tiger, Kcejfau, 
 
 Mare, Abas. 
 
 Wolf, Guka, 
 
 Fifh, fGau, 
 
 
 BufFalo fK.au. 
 
 Elephant, Coa, 
 
 Sea- Cow, fGno. 
 
 Dog, "Tu, 
 
 Hog, Kan go. 
 
 Dogs, T^iina, 
 
 Horned Cattle, fGuku. 
 
 Penis of a dog, Tima-ka, 
 
 Sheep, t'Gus, 
 
 Bitch, Tus. 
 
 Cow, t' Gob's. 
 
 Lion, fGam?na, 
 
 Bull, Hara. 
 
 Tortoife, fGammi, 
 
 ,Ho. 
 
 Elk, fKa?i. 
 
 Baboon, t'GorMa. 
 
 Roebuck, Za. 
 
 Bee, Oi. 
 
 Steenbock, Gunima» 
 
 Honey, Denni, 
 
 Jackal, d'Litai, 
 
 Milk, Bi. 
 
 Zebra, d'Au. 
 
 Fat, fNui. 
 
 Horfe, Hajiqua, 
 
 Flefli, fGo. 
 
 Stallion, Kara?igaha, 
 
 
 Subjlajztives not reducible to the former heads y AdjeBives, Adverbs, 
 
 Pronouns and Phrafes. 
 
 Thunder, t'Gulu, 
 
 Houfe, fKooqua. 
 
 Fire, /'£/. 
 
 Road, Dau. 
 
 Wood, 'L 
 
 Bad road, Tradau, 
 
 Bread, Brce. 
 Pipe, fNov. 
 
 ^iii /1 ,111 
 
 Good road, Skundaha, 
 
 Terra firma, Houtniqua. 
 
 Callibafh, Karabu. 
 
 Wafhing-river, fKam fnafi. 
 
 Waggon, Krohe. 
 
 Water, t'Kamma, 
 
 Good, Huka, 
 
 Better,
 
 A P P E 
 
 Better, Oin. 
 
 Bad, ugly, Kaiji, 
 
 Sick, Katfin. 
 
 What belongs to you is good for 
 
 nothing, Zgu kaiJi, 
 Angry, Solo. 
 Why, or with whom are you 
 
 angry ? ^olo nab a. 
 Cold, Oro. 
 Yes, lo. 
 No, Aa. 
 Thine, T^. 
 
 Thy Horfe, Ta Hanqiia, 
 Whofe, which, Danne. 
 Who is come ? f Jeanne koha. 
 
 N D I X. 
 
 Who 1 Ives here ? f Jeanne koha he. 
 Our father, Zika Bo. 
 
 , Ty fka. 
 
 I, Tiri. 
 
 — Tin. 
 
 — Faemininum, Tittt. 
 
 Thou, Tats. 
 
 She, Tatifi? 
 
 He, Hekoe.. 
 
 Ye, Zita. 
 
 They, Hekoina:. 
 
 Will you have any bread? Tats 
 
 Brce. 
 Sas 
 
 Brce. 
 
 35? 
 
 Verbs ABive and Neuter ^ with fame Rxa?7iples of them in Bhrafes. 
 
 I am, Titte. 
 
 Thou art, Kia^ 
 
 He is, Oi. 
 
 We are, Zikatiji. 
 
 We are there, Zikatiji inaha. 
 
 He is there, Dan inaha » 
 
 To come. Ha. 
 
 Come hither, Heva ha. 
 
 — " — , yata ha.. 
 
 Come quickly, Stifa ha. 
 Do not come. Ha giitti. 
 To do, Hi. 
 To give, Male. 
 
 > , Mare. 
 
 Give me, Ma/e gu^ 
 8 
 
 Give fire, fEi mare,. 
 
 Give milk, Bi mare. 
 
 Order me fome drink, Ereka. 
 
 Give viduals, t'Koko mare. 
 
 To eat, fKnii, 
 
 I wifh to eat, fKnu kau tiri. 
 
 I am hungry, Tiri kalu naha. 
 
 Having one's fill, or one's belly 
 
 full, Ele tekae. 
 To lie down, or lie along, fKoe. 
 
 , fKiiiJuet, 
 
 To fleep, fKom. 
 I am ilcepy, Tilika-kiilc. 
 To boil, Zain. 
 
 The water boils, Daukaifkamma 
 
 Truth,
 
 35^ 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 Truth, it Is true, Kammafa. 
 To lie, it is falfe, 'Eige. 
 It is fine weather, fOroo, 
 It rains, fUkaL 
 Remember me to your family! 
 
 t'Kabehare, 
 Good day ! 
 Farewel ! 
 
 \ fAhe. 
 
 Good day, Mafter 1 t' Abe fkukol. 
 
 To fteal, t Sa. 
 
 To kill, fNautkam. 
 
 A draught. 
 
 To drink. 
 
 Here, take it ! 
 
 See there ! hold fall ! 
 
 \ t'Ka. 
 
 V 
 
 Katfi. 
 
 N. B. t' Prefixed to a word, indicates that the fyllable imme- 
 diately following is to be pronounced with a clack, or applicatioo 
 of the tongue to the roof of the mouth : this appears to me to be 
 effeded, according to the different dialers ufed, the different 
 emotions of the fpeaker, or the different fubjedts fpoken of, with 
 various degrees of force in one and the fame word ; and, indeed, 
 fometimes to be altogether omitted. 
 
 Specimen of the Language of the Bnefe, o?^ Chinefe -Hottentots. 
 
 One, fKoa, 
 Two, Tinnano, 
 Three, Tinnajikaita, 
 Four, T^inna7ionaka» 
 He, t'Natko, 
 Fire, t'Ei. 
 
 Water, fKa'e, 
 
 FleHi, t'God. 
 
 Abufive language, fKoago, 
 
 Lion, fKalo. 
 
 Tiger, t'Abe. 
 
 Good day ! t'Ave. 
 
 N. B. I did not meet with any of this nation that could reckon 
 farther than four. Notwithftanding which, fuch of them as are 
 ftiepherds in the fervicc of the Chriftians, are faid to difcover much 
 fooner than their mafters, when any one of the fheep in the nu- 
 merous flocks committed to their care, is loff or miffing. 
 
 It
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 It fliould farther be obferved, that it is only the words denoting 
 fire ^ndjlefi; and the term ufed in mutua^ falutations, that bear 
 any refemblance to each other in the two preceding languages. 
 
 Specimen of the Language of the Caffres. 
 
 349 
 
 To reckon. Shim. 
 One, Enje, 
 Two, Babini, 
 Three, A-tatu, 
 Four, Sanu, 
 Five, Sumeninu 
 Six, Sinje. 
 Ten, Sumi. 
 A Hundred, Enkuku, 
 Father, Bao. 
 Mother, Man, 
 A Man, Do da. 
 A Woman, Ufafi. 
 Two Brothers, Emkulo. 
 Couiins, TJmsala. 
 Kindred, Sinlobo T^etii^ 
 Friend, Eklobo. 
 Hand, Fanfa. 
 Finger, Aene. 
 Thumb, Umi?io. 
 Arm, Enkomo. 
 Thigh, Mulemfe. 
 Foot, Enjau. 
 Toes, Emaujfant. 
 Head, Loko. 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 Water, Maafi. 
 Milk, Ammaft. 
 Fire, Lilo. 
 The Sun, Lelanga. 
 The Moon, fanga. 
 Rain, Evuia. 
 Ox, Gofno. 
 Horfe, Hanjhi. 
 Lion, Elepho. 
 BufFalo, Eujata. 
 Jackal, Pangalio, 
 Elk, Poffo. 
 Dog, Sefmja. 
 
 To give, 
 
 A Road, Vfala. 
 
 • , Eefizela. 
 
 A fick Perfon, Jaffa. 
 
 One that is dead, Ufik. 
 
 The Ear, St la. 
 
 Handfome, Opepile. 
 
 Angry, Siala, 
 
 Great, Entiie mine. 
 
 Little, Nonane. 
 
 Javelin, HafTagai, Evikangota. 
 
 Knife, Sifiatfe. 
 
 Waggon,
 
 350 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Waggon, Nofo. 
 
 Copper, Brafs, Ewjibefnfopi. 
 
 Glafs Beads, Sintela. 
 
 Small redGlafsBeads,Lf?;z/^//^;?ij. 
 
 More ! Give more ! Ungeefa^ 
 
 It is too little, Ninnenu 
 
 Good Day, Echiote, 
 
 To dance, JJfino. 
 
 Come hither, Ifat. 
 Run! Hafte! Harden. 
 To fleep, Gualala, 
 To awaken, Fuka, 
 To wake, — 
 No ! Haij, 
 Yes ! Aoe\ 
 Far away, Kude. 
 
 N. B. The Caffres do not make a noife with their tongue agalnft 
 the roof of their mouths in fpeaking, as the Hottentots do, but 
 pronounce their words in a manly and diftindt manner, mollly 
 with a ilrong accent on the penultimate. 
 
 A I R, 
 
 Supg by the Hottentot -Caffres ^ near Little Sunday-riiier^ 
 (Vide page 28 of this volume.) 
 
 Tlano, forte. 
 
 Maye-ma, 
 
 Mayc-ma, 
 
 huh huh huh. 
 
 1 N 
 
 S.
 
 ERRATA, 
 
 Page II, /. 2, from the bottom, before 66 read ^t, 
 
 37, /. 3, for Kuranoi, read Kurenoi, 
 
 43, /. 20, for orignate, read originate, 
 
 16, /. 7, yor peculiar, read iingnhr . 
 
 60, /. 4, from the bottom, after kill, read with guns. 
 
 -' 65, /. 8, from bottom, j^r is, ?-ead proves. 
 
 — — 7, — , after as, read in that cafe. 
 
 ■ ' 248) /.. 7, from bottom, read CH^P. XV. Journey from Agter 
 Bruntjes-Hoogte to the two Visch-riviers, and Re- 
 sidence AT THOSE Places. 
 ■■■»■ 289, /. 18, for globules, read fmall lobes. 
 
 /. 26, for bafes,. read bafe. 
 
 /. g, from bottom, read CHAP, XVI. Journey back to the Cape, 
 
 bottom, /or only, readhut. 
 
 l. I, for and at the fame time blowing, read blew at the fame time, 
 
 /. 7, from bottom, for of, read or. 
 
 /. 12, /cr variatas, r^^^varietas. 
 
 bottom, y^r relation, rW relations. 
 
 In the original of this Journal, as well as in the map, the author has written Droogc 
 and Vet-xW\tx. But Vet is a Swedifti word, fignifying wet in Englifh; and as the 
 river fpoken of is in a Dutch colony, it fhould doubtlefs have flood Drooge and Natte- 
 rivier. We have accordingly printed it thus at page 244, Vol. I. though we have not. 
 taken the liberty of making any alteration with refpe«^ to this word in the map.
 
 directionsto the book-binder. 
 
 The Landfcape is to make the Frontifpiece to the firft 
 Volume. The other Plates belonging to this Volume are to 
 be placed at the End : the Map laft of all. 
 
 The Plates belonging to the fecond Volume are ta be 
 placed at the End of it.
 
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